A New Light
by starsword
Summary: What happens when someone turns up in Sunnydale and sheds a whole new light on the way Spike is? How will the Scoobies react? And what part will she play on the Hellmouth? I suck at summaries. Spuffy! AU cos the timelines screwed blame my muses... ON HOLD
1. Patrols And Visits

_A/N: Heya, it's my first Buffy fic and I'm still a little shaky over some aspects of Buffy so please bear with me; I'm consulting Wikipedia whenever I think I'm getting something wrong or not too sure about something so hopefully there won't be too many mistakes; if there are please tell me in a nice ashy kind of way instead of everyone flaming me. I know I don't really mind flames but a whole story dedicated to flames? I had one once and it wasn't reassuring; trust me. Anyway enough waffle. I own nothing except my own characters yadda yadda yadda; on with the show!_

**Chapter 1 – Patrols And Visits**

Buffy walked through the familiar graveyard, glancing around in search for any demonic activity. Sunnydale had been relatively quiet these past few nights, only one or two vamps per night and tonight Buffy just wanted to beat the crap out of something. College had been so boring she'd almost fallen asleep in a lecture; even Willow had admitted that the lectures had been boring. They'd met at the Magic Box to chill out before Buffy had had to leave the warm and friendly atmosphere to come out and patrol. So far there had been no vamps at all, not even a glimmer of dust from previous encounters.

Buffy heard some noise up ahead and, keeping to the shadows, she moved quickly and quietly towards the noise. She almost groaned in frustration when she saw what was making the noise, a group of four vampires were fighting in between two rows of gravestones. _Looks like I'm not the only one out on patrol_ she thought as she saw Spike throw one of the vampires against a gravestone, knocking him senseless for a few moments. She watched as he plunged a stake into the only female vampire of the group and delivered a quick right hook to the other; he threw the stake into the vampire he'd knocked against the gravestone, successfully dusting him, before kicking the legs out from under the last vampire and plunging the last stake into him.

'So that's why there haven't been any vampires around for me to dust lately; you've been taking them all out' Buffy said, coming out from the shadows.

'Annoyed I'm stealin' your vamps, Slayer?' Spike asked as he collected his two stakes. He smirked as he turned to face her, 'Got your panties in a twist because I'm stealin' all your fun?'

Buffy raised her eyebrows, 'Don't, for one minute, think you have any effect what so ever on my panties.'

'So what do I have an effect on?'

'You're a pig Spike.'

Spike's smirk grew, 'Don't you know it, Slayer'

Buffy shot him a glare before turning and walking away from him, hoping to find a vampire to vent her frustration on. Spike caught up with her easily.

'Bugger off Spike.'

'Not gonna let you have all the fun, Slayer. I've got some frustration to get rid of as well, you know.'

Buffy rolled her eyes, 'Whatever, but the next vamp we see is mine.'

At that precise moment a fledgling broke the surface where Buffy was about to step. Spike grinned as she took a few steps back.

'All yours, Slayer.'

Buffy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she waited for the vampire to break free from the ground.

'Come on, I haven't got all night; places to visit, vamps to slay.'

The fledgling growled and leapt at her once it was free; Buffy easily side stepped, rolling her eyes.

'Is that honestly the best you can do?' she asked him; Spike smirked and lit a cigarette in the shadows of a tree.

'Frustrated, Pet?'

'Oh shut up, Spike' Buffy snapped, aiming a punch at the fledgling as it charged again; she sent it flying with a well placed kick, then pinned it down on it's back and began to punch every bit of it's game face she could find.

'Stupid'_ punch _'bloody'_ punch _'vampires'_ punch_ 'never'_ punch_ 'around' _punch _'when'_ punch_ 'I' _punch _'need'_ punch_ 'to'_ punch_ 'beat'_ punch_ 'the' _punch _'crap' _punch _'out_ punch_' 'of' _punch _'something!'

She pulled a stake out and rammed it into the vampire's heart before it had a chance to recover from her punches; it disappeared with a snarl and an explosion of dust.

'Feel better?' Spike asked from the shadows. Buffy stood up and replaced her stake before dusting off her hands and turning to face Spike.

'A little' she replied; Spike snorted.

'Jesus Slayer what happened to get you so frustrated? Captain Cardboard try to snog you or something?'

'Shut up Spike, what happens in mine and Riley's relationship is nothing to do with you' she snapped. Spike smirked.

'So it's true?'

Buffy glared at the blond vampire as he came out of the shadows, throwing his cigarette to the ground.

'If you must know I had an exceptionally boring day and the past few nights have been relatively quiet.'

They continued to patrol for about half an hour with no sign of anything remotely demonic. Finally Spike sighed in frustration.

'Where the hell is everything?' he asked; Buffy shrugged.

'How should I know? Go ask Giles.' she snapped, equally annoyed at the lack of demon activity.

'You might have to do that, Slayer. The Hellmouth shouldn't be this quiet, it's called the Hellmouth for a reason you know.'

'I don't need you telling me what to do, Spike.' Buffy snapped. After a few moments silence Spike spoke again.

'Want to spar?' he asked; Buffy smiled.

'I thought you'd never ask.'

She turned and tried to catch him off guard with a flying kick, he caught her leg and sent her flying; Buffy twisted in midair and landed on her feet.

'Not bad.' Spike commented with raised eyebrows. They continued to spar for the next ten minutes, exchanging punches (Spike had to make sure his missed otherwise his chip would give him one hell of a migraine) and dodging attacks. Finally Buffy was able to kick Spike's legs out from under him when he moved to dodge a punch aimed at his head; he reacted fast though and grabbed hold of her, managing to flip her over as they hit the ground. Spike grinned.

'I win this round, Slayer' he said; Buffy kicked him in the stomach and flipped him over.

'I win this round' she said, mimicking him. Spike growled in annoyance; Buffy was breathing heavily, slightly tired after their fast tempo fight. After a few minutes she noticed Spike was smirking again.

'What are you smirking at, Spike?' she snapped.

'I'm just thinking you must like this position, Slayer, you've kept me pinned for the past few minutes; any particular reason?'

Buffy slapped him round the face and stood up.

'Pig'

Spike stood up, his smirk still plastered on his face. 'Come on Slayer, admit it; you want me.'

Buffy rolled her eyes, 'Grow up, Spike. I don't want you, I never have wanted you, and I never will want you.'

'I can smell a lie, Slayer.'

Buffy was about to retort, despite a nagging little voice in the back of her head that said that he was right, when her phone rang. Cursing quietly she answered it.

'Giles? What's up?'

'How is your patrol going?' Spike heard Giles ask on the other end of the phone.

'Quietly, nothing around except four vamps; well one for me, Spike was already sorting out the other three when I arrived' she answered.

'Is Spike still with you?'

'Yeah, I'm here Watcher. What do you want now?' Spike asked; Buffy glared at him.

'I take it he's still there then' Giles said, Spike rolled his eyes.

'Yeah, why? You finally gonna let me stake him?'

Spike was about retort but just settled for a smirk and another cigarette; 'Remember what we were talking about just now Slayer?'

'Get lost!' she snapped.

'Buffy?'

'Sorry Giles, not you. I was talking to Spike. Anyway what's with the phone call?'

'Well you and Spike better get to the shop. We're all still here and Willow's come up with a very unnerving suggestion as to why it's been so quiet on patrol lately.'

'You're still at the shop? It's gotta be midnight at least!'

'Buffy can you save it until you're at the shop please?'

'Alright, we'll be there ASAP. See you in a minute.'

'Goodbye Buffy.'

Buffy hung up and looked to Spike.

'We've got to-'

'Go to the shop. Yeah I heard; ain't got vampire senses for nothing you know.' Spike said, stamping out his last cigarette. Buffy rolled her eyes again and then she and Spike headed towards the Magic Box.

Buffy and Spike walked into the Magic Box and saw the others as they had been when Buffy had left earlier; the only difference was that there were a few more books on the table.

'So what do we think's causing the demons to go all quiet and stay in at night?' Buffy asked, taking a seat next to Willow. Spike leant against one of the shelves and watched the Scoobies sat around the table; he liked to stand in the shadows, or to one side, seemingly forgotten by everyone and just watch what happened; he'd picked up a lot of information that way. Right now he watched as Tara and Willow held hands under the table, he watched as Anya leant into Xander as they looked to Giles and Buffy, he watched Giles take off his glasses and clean them before putting them back on and rubbing his forehead with his right hand, he watched as Buffy looked at Giles and waited for her Watcher's words of wisdom.

'Well Willow suggested that maybe the demons were being all quiet because they were getting ready for a big attack, or they were waiting for something to come.' Xander said, one arm around Anya's shoulders.

'So we wait for another near apocalypse to come and then when we've stopped that from happening the demons go back to normal night lovingness?' Buffy asked.

'It appears that may be the case.' Giles answered.

'So; any idea when this apocalypse might be happening?' Buffy asked, tilting the chair back onto its back two legs.

'That's what we're trying to find out. We're trying to find any clues in past demon behaviours similar to this so we can try and pinpoint what's going to happen and when.' Giles answered. Just then there was a knock on the shop door. Everyone turned to look at the offending door.

'What on earth is knocking on the door at this time of night?' Giles asked, standing to open it; Buffy raised a hand and went to the door, sword ready. Everyone was stood ready to attack when Buffy opened the door to reveal a girl with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes, Buffy's sword went down when she saw the fresh cut across the girl's cheek. What surprised everyone was when Spike spoke.

'_Tala?' _ he asked, walking forwards as Buffy moved out of the way, mouth hanging open slightly.

'What the hell are you doing here?' he demanded. 'I told you to stay at school! I didn't want there to be even a little chance of you being attacked by demons!'

'Err… hi?' the new girl said with a nervous grin.


	2. Tala

**Chapter 2- Tala**

Spike's face went back to its usual expressionless self after he got over his shock, he frowned.

'Hi? HI? You turn up on the Hellmouth when I tell you to stay half way across the country and you say 'hi'?'

'You expected me to stay in that shit hole?' the girl demanded.

'Oi language' Spike said, the girl raised her eyebrows.

'Hypocrite!'

'Stubborn brat!'

'Look whose talking!'

'Watch it you, I'm still not happy you're here. You're _supposed_ to be at boarding school, in a dorm room, at least 100 miles away from here' Spike said, voice dangerous; the Scoobies were watching the whole encounter with shock.

'You didn't have to put up with people taking the piss outta you cos you're an orphan and have the people you share a dorm with yelling at you for having night- oops…'

Spike's eyes narrowed.

'Did the nightmares ever stop?' he asked, the girl looked down at the ground.

'Can I make a suggestion?' Giles ventured, Spike turned to look behind him and realised everyone was watching them.

'Why don't we let… Tala is it?' the girl nodded, 'Tala why don't you come in and sit down, it appears you've had a long journey. Then, Spike, you can introduce us and maybe you can sort out why she's here.'

Spike nodded, took Tala's arm and led her to the table.

'Alright Biscuit, you better start explaining quick' he said, leaning on his original shelf. Tala looked down at the table.

'Can someone please explain to me what's going on?' Buffy asked; closing the door and returning to her chair, everyone else sat back down as well. Spike sighed and rubbed his face in his hands.

'This is Tala Kap-'

'My middle name doesn't matter, Spike; my Dad gave me that one' Tala snapped.

'-Kapera Winter,' Spike continued as if he hadn't been interrupted 'We've known each other since she was… three isn't it?'

Tala nodded.

'Saw some police chasing after her cos she'd stolen some biscuits for her Mum, hence the name, managed to pull them off and get a tasty snack out of it. As you can see it didn't include her; see I'm not just a soulless evil demon.'

'Just get on with it Captain Peroxide' Xander said irritably; Spike glared at him.

'Watch it Whelp' Spike looked at Tala, 'You wanna take over, Biscuit?'

Tala shrugged, 'Not like it's a big secret' she faced the Scoobies, 'My Dad was a nutcase to say the least. He ended up shooting my Mum right in front of me when I was four years old, then he turned to look at me and blew his own brains out. Amazingly Mum survived for a few hours, well for a bit after Spike arrived anyway. He'd helped me out when I'd gotten the biscuits for Mum, she used to love them and Dad would never let us buy anything like that. I wanted… I wanted to get her something to show her I loved her, she was the only one who cared. See Dad always wanted a boy; he had one in the form of my older brother. My older brother, Donald, he drowned a week before I was born; Dad wanted to kill me the minute he found out I was a girl, he wanted another boy; but Mum wouldn't let him.

'They'd agreed Mum would name any girls they had and Dad any boys so Mum named me Tala, it means stalking wolf in Native American; but Dad was allowed to chose my middle name so he called me Kapera, in Africa it means: this child, too, will die. Mum managed to protect me from most of his anger by taking it herself, but it didn't stop him taking his anger out on me completely…'

Tala trailed off, tears welled in her eyes at the memory of her parents; Spike surprised everyone by walking forwards and wrapping his arms around her. The Scoobies watched as Tala started to cry into Spike's shirt and he rubbed her back soothingly. He continued her story as she continued to cry silently.

'Her Mum asked me to take care of her; I heard the shots and went over as soon as it was ok to leave Dru.' Spike's face clouded slightly, 'She travelled a bit with me and Dru, Dru was brilliant to say the least even if she was mad. When I planned to move to here she agreed to stay at a boarding school; I didn't want to break a promise and get her killed-'

'Hang on a minute' Xander said, standing up and facing Spike, 'You, the Big Bad, Mr-Evil-Soulless-Bad-Ass-Vampire who couldn't give a damn about anyone took in a four year old kid cos you promised her mother you'd take care of her?'

Spike's face clouded in anger, 'Just because I'm soulless doesn't mean I can't care Whelp!' he shouted, Xander took an involuntary step back despite the chip in Spike's head.

'Spike calm down!' Buffy said, standing up before a fight started; Buffy turned to Xander.

'Xander sit down and be quiet. Spike calm down and don't yell at everyone; it's a lot for us all to take in' she said; the human and vampire complied. Buffy sat back down rubbing her eyes as Giles turned to Tala.

'Tala, how old are you?' he asked in a gentle voice, Spike felt an odd sense of gratitude towards the Watcher at that moment. Tala took a deep breath and pulled away from Spike, Spike went back to leaning against the shelf but kept his eyes on Tala.

'I'm 15,' she replied, looking down at the table.

'Same age as Dawn' Buffy commented quietly, Tala looked up at her.

'Dawn's my sister' Buffy explained, 'I'm Buffy, I'm the-'

'-Slayer. I guessed with the whole pointy sword way of greeting me at the door' Tala said with a smile.

'Well it is two in the morning' Buffy defended herself. Tala grinned.

'It's ok; honestly I don't mind' she said. Buffy grinned at her.

'Well this is Giles and Xander. Anya, who is Xander's fiancée, and Tara and Willow' Buffy said, pointing to each one in turn. Tala smiled slightly.

'Well I hate to break this up but as Buffy said it is two in the morning; we should be getting to bed and then meet again tomorrow. Buffy would you mind if Tala stayed with you tonight?'

Buffy nodded, but Tala suddenly took terrified.

'I can't!' she said; Spike stood up straighter, eyes narrowed slightly.

'What do you mean?' Giles asked.

'They've gotten worse haven't they?' Spike asked quietly, Tala looked down.

'Did they actually stop or did you just say that because you thought it would make me feel better?' he asked her.

'They stopped for a bit and then they started again a few months ago' Tala answered quietly. Spike's eyes narrowed further.

'I can smell a lie Tala; they never stopped did they? They've been getting worse every night, haven't they?' he demanded. Tala nodded, Spike smashed his fist against a wall.

'Dammit Tala why didn't you tell me?' he yelled.

'Not wanting to intrude but what are you on about?' Willow asked. Spike sighed and ran a hand through his bleached hair.

'Tala's been having nightmares for ages, they started about two years after her parents died; she used to wake up screaming every night. When she went to boarding school I made her promise to tell me if they got worse or continued; after a month or so she told me they'd stopped so I thought it was because of the travelling or something' he answered; Willow frowned in thought.

'Well, we could always try out a spell tomorrow so we can all see the nightmares and see if we can stop them; for now though we really should get some sleep. We can meet back here at sunset tomorrow' she suggested; Buffy nodded and everyone stood up to leave.

'Where am I staying?' Tala asked quietly. Buffy opened her mouth to speak but Spike beat her to it.

'You're coming with me Biscuit, if that nightmare comes back I want to be the one to wake you up' he said; Tala nodded silently and followed the blonde vampire's leather duster out of the shop and along the street to his crypt.

Back in the shop the others were still shocked.

'Have I wandered into a nightmare or was Spike just… really nice to a girl of 15?' Xander asked, 'Pinch me.'

Anya complied and judging by Xander's yelp of pain he wasn't dreaming.

'I might regret saying this at a later date but… I think he looks at her as a type of daughter' Tara said; they left the shop, each with their own thoughts and opinions of the transformation in Spike they'd just witnessed.

As Buffy wandered back to her house she wondered how he'd never shown that side of himself to the before; that nagging voice in the back of her mind was back again, saying that he had acted like that before, she just hadn't wanted to see it.

Saturday dawned bright and cheerful, unfortunately for Dawn Buffy didn't; the sunlight had woken her up earlier than she would have liked and Buffy was in a foul mood for most of the morning. Unfortunately for Buffy's mood, Joyce wanted to know why she'd been so late getting back; Buffy replied with a shortened version of events which caused Dawn to want to go with Buffy that night to meet Tala. Buffy groaned, why couldn't people leave tired Buffy alone? In the end she agreed just so Dawn would leave her alone and she could go back upstairs and have a nap before sunset.

Buffy was shook awake a few hours later by Dawn telling her the sun had almost set and they were supposed to be at the shop soon.

'Come on Buffy, we gotta go' Dawn said, shaking her sister slightly. Buffy groaned and rolled over.

'Wake me when it's sunset' she mumbled.

'It _is_ sunset' Dawn sighed. Buffy grumbled and got up, rubbing her eyes.

'Alright I'll be down in five' she said; Dawn grinned and ran down the stairs to wait for Buffy. Buffy looked out of her window then stood up and brushed her hair into a bun. She put on her shoes, grabbed her weapons bag and coat and walked out of her bedroom after Dawn.

Buffy and Dawn walked into the Magic Box about 10 minutes later; Xander, Anya and Giles were already sat around the table.

'Heya' Buffy said as she and Dawn took seats around the table; Buffy dumped her weapons bag next to her chair.

'Hello' Anya said cheerily.

'Where are the others?' Buffy asked; Giles was busy reading a large text and didn't answer.

'They haven't come yet; Willow and Tara have gone to get some food, seeing as it's probably going to be a long night' Xander replied.

'Okay… so why is Giles all other worldly with a big book?' Buffy asked.

'Oh he's trying to find out if we can guess when this apocalypse is going to happen' Anya said happily, seemingly completely unconcerned about the world ending. At that moment Willow and Tara walked back in with shopping bags.

'Heya,' Tara said, holding up her bag 'we've got rolls, cakes, drinks and a load of other stuff to last the night.'

The two witches put their bags on the counter and walked over.

'Hey Dawn' Willow greeted the 14 year old.

'Hey Willow, hey Tara' Dawn said.

'Hey Dawnie' Tara replied sitting next to Willow.

'So where's Spike and Tala?' Willow asked.

Just then the door opened and the two people in question walked in arguing.

'Next time you want a minion get a bloody demon to do it, cos I am _not_ your minion!'

'You know you're gonna be going back to that school if your not careful' Spike said, smirking when Tala glared at him.

'Do you _want_ me to pour this blood all over your bleached head?' she threatened, indicating the bag she was carrying.

'Do you want me to find Miss Edith?' Spike asked; Tala blanched.

'Don't even mention that doll, she still freaks me out' Tala suddenly grinned, 'Do _you_ want me to tell them about the road kill?'

Spike's eyes narrowed dangerously, 'Watch it, Minion. You're treading on dangerous ground now.'

Tala just smiled sweetly and set the blood down on the counter next to the shopping bags; Spike growled in annoyance and leant against his shelf.

'Hey Nibblet' he said, Dawn grinned.

'Hey Spike.'

Giles closed his book with a snap and an agitated sigh; everyone turned to him with raised eyebrows.

'It appears that there is no obvious time for when this apocalypse is going to happen; whenever this has happened before there has been no pattern to suggest when the demons attack in full force' he answered to their unspoken question.

'Yes there is' Tala said quietly; everyone turned to look at her, she was sat on the counter playing with her necklace. She was staring at the floor.

'What do you mean?' Giles asked her; Tala turned to look at him.

'He'll bring the apocalypse on so he'll be able to tell me' she said.

'What do you mean? Whose 'he'?' Buffy asked, standing up. Tala shrugged.

'He hasn't told me his name' she answered, 'I don't even know what he looks like. All I know is he's tortured and killed people; not just humans, demons as well' she answered, looking at Buffy this time.

'Where did you meet him?' Buffy asked her; Tala stared at her for a moment then looked back at the floor.

'He's the one in my nightmare. He showed me… he showed me the end of the world…' she took a deep breath before adding, 'He showed me the apocalypse a few months ago, that's when I decided I had to leave school.'

She directed the last bit to Spike; Willow looked at Spike and realised he had his head in his hands; he walked over to Tala and drew her into a hug.

'I'm sorry, Minion' he said quietly. There were a few moments of awkward silence.

'Maybe we could try and work out who this man is in your nightmare if we knew some more about your past' Giles suggested. Dawn saw Tala stiffen slightly and Spike pulled away, obviously he'd noticed as well.

'Do we have to Watcher?' he asked; Giles fixed Spike with a glare.

'It may be the only way to stop them' Giles answered; before Spike could reply the door opened and Riley entered the shop.

'Riley?'

'Heya Buffy' he said; he seemed to realise how many people were in the shop and the presence of a new person.

'Who are you?' he asked Tala, Spike glared at Riley who returned the glare.

'Tala' she replied shortly, not missing the glares being exchanged between Spike and Riley. He turned to her and smiled slightly.

'I'm Riley' he said; Tala nodded slightly.

'What're you doing here Soldier boy?' Spike asked.


	3. Friendships

**Chapter 3 – Friendship**

'That's none of your business, vampire' Riley said, he turned to the Scoobies, 'Can I ask if you guys are ok with Tala staying with Spike; I mean he's a monster for god's sake!'

Before anyone could react Riley was on his knees with his arm pinned behind him.

'Tell me, _Riley_, who are the monsters? The humans who would've left a 4-year-old orphan to die or the demons that took her in and raised her?' Tala hissed, pulling his arm back a little more before letting it go and walking out of the door.

'What the hell was that all about?' Riley asked as he rubbed his arm.

'Bugger off' Spike spat and turned to go after Tala; Dawn stood up.

'I'll go' she said and ran out after the other girl.

Dawn paused outside the shop and looked to see where Tala had gone; she saw her walking towards the cemeteries. Dawn ran after the other girl and slowed to a walk beside her.

'Hey' Tala said quietly.

'Hey. I'm Dawn by the way' Dawn answered. Tala smiled slightly.

'Tala.'

The girls walked in silence for a few moments then Dawn broke the silence.

'What music do you like?' she asked; Tala grinned and faced Dawn. The two girls walked aimlessly and talked about anything that came to mind, striking off a close friendship within a few minutes. After about half an hour of walking and talking Dawn turned to Tala again.

'What happened to your parents?' she asked, Tala didn't stiffen but she kept her gaze on the ground.

'My Dad shot my Mum and then…' she paused, 'And then he blew his own brains out right in front of me. Spike and Dru took me in; they've been like the parents I never had. That's why I got so pissed off with Riley.'

Dawn laughed, 'To be honest I'm glad you did.'

Tala laughed and the two girls couldn't stop giggling about the look on Riley's face when Tala had managed to pin him down as they headed back to the shop, as they walked onto the street Dawn asked Tala another question.

'Where did you learn to fight?' Dawn asked her, Tala couldn't help but grin.

'Spike taught me. Want me to teach you a few moves?' she asked; Dawn's face lit up.

'You bet!'

The two girls walked into the shop laughing.

Spike turned to Riley once Dawn had left the shop and for a moment Riley thought he was actually going to punch him, even with the chip in his head. Instead he turned around and punched the wall; some plaster fell away and Spike pulled his hand away with a grimace on his face as blood started to fall from his knuckles.

'Shit' he muttered, he turned to Buffy and Giles.

'Mind if I use the training room for a minute?'

Buffy nodded and indicated the door; Spike walked past and through the door, after a few minutes of silence they could hear the punch bag swinging wildly as Spike pummelled it.

'She's right you know' Willow said quietly, they all turned to look at her.

'What do you mean?' Xander asked her.

'Well we all thought Spike and Drusilla were cold blooded killers who would have given an arm and a leg to see something in pain but they were the ones who took Tala in. Not any of her family or family friends or anything, it was those two. Maybe we've been looking at demons wrong all this time' Willow said quietly. Riley snorted.

'They do one good thing and you want to forgive them for everything they ever did? They're still monsters, Willow, they'll never stop being monsters and if that chip ever comes out of Spike's head he'll be a killer and he'll kill Tala as well' he said. Willow surprised everyone by standing up and slamming her hands onto the table.

'They took her in _before_ he got that chip in his head. They took her in when they were _cold blooded killers_!' Willow snapped.

'Whatever, I didn't come here to talk about vampires that should be back in the Initiative Base; I came here to ask what you've done that's stopped all the demon activity' Riley said, turning to Buffy. Buffy shrugged.

'We don't know' she said, sitting down at the same time as Willow; Tara placed a comforting hand on Willow's shoulder, the witch was breathing a little heavily after her emotional outburst. There was a loud bang from the other room and a few minutes later Spike emerged looking a little sheepish and massaging his torn knuckles.

'The punch bag came off the ceiling… sorry' Spike said as way of explanation; Giles sighed and massaged his temple as Spike went back to leaning on the shelf.

'Has anyone noticed that the Bit and Minion have been gone for about 20 minutes now?' he asked; Buffy stood up to go look for them when Giles held up a hand.

'Sit down Buffy, if they're not back in the next 10 minutes you can go and look for them' he said wearily; Buffy nodded and sat back down. There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Anya stood up.

'Who wants something to eat?' she asked as a way to end the silence and walked over to the shopping bags.

'Chuck us some blood' Spike said; Anya pulled a bag out of the bag Tala had carried in and handed it to Spike; Spike switched to game face and sank his fangs into the bag and started to suck on the blood.

'Don't you like it warm?' Tara asked him, Spike shrugged.

'Don't mind; but I prefer it warm' he said before returning to the bag of blood. Riley and Xander both pulled disgusted faces as the vampire continued to drink. Anya returned to the table with some drinks as the door opened and Dawn and Tala walked in, arms linked and laughing. Tala rolled her eyes at Spike.

'Couldn't you have waited for another half hour before having blood? We could've warmed it up.'

'Hungry' Spike replied before finishing off the bag. Tala shook her head and her and Dawn sat on the counter.

'So you don't know why the demon activity's stopped?' Riley asked the Scoobies sat around the table. Anya shook her head.

'Nope' she answered, Riley sighed.

'Professor Walsh isn't going to be happy about this' he muttered, 'I better get back to the Base. See you soon, Buffy.'

He leant down and kissed her forehead before turning and walking out of the shop.

'Why couldn't you suck him dry when you had the chance?' Tala asked Spike.

'Oi, that's my boyfriend' Buffy said, glaring at Tala; Tala looked coolly back at her.

'You know humans are all against animal cruelty and wars and stuff, but when a military base starts putting chips into demons so they can't feed naturally no one bats an eye lid. Am I the only person who sees a little bit of prejudice going on here?' she asked; Spike grinned and walked up behind her ruffling her hair.

'Knew I kept hold of you for a reason' he said.

'Yeah so someone would go fetch your bloody for you 'cos you can't be bothered to get off your lazy arse and do it yourself' Tala retorted, though she was grinning as she said it. Spike winked.

'Got it in one, Minion.'

'I hate to break up this charming conversation but I thought we came here to work out when the apocalypse was happening not to watch you two banter' Xander said, obviously annoyed.

'Well it could have something to do with a demon called Kelsa. Though that could be someone with a grudge against me so don't get too excited' Tala said, 'I heard her mentioned a lot around the demon bars as I was making my way here.'

'What were you doing in demon bars?' Giles asked her; Tala shrugged.

'Weren't you a little worried about the health and safety issue concerning demon bars?' Xander asked her.

'No, why should I?' Tala asked.

'Well demons do like to kill humans a lot of the time' Xander replied.

'Yeah well I was raised by two vampires so I don't see the health and safety issues that you would' Tala snapped; Xander opened his mouth to retort when Buffy cut him off.

'_Enough_!' Buffy snapped Xander and Tala fell silent; Giles sighed and cleaned his glasses.

'Can we please stop arguing for five minutes so we can get some productive conversation going?' Giles asked wearily; Tala and Xander nodded.

'Thank you. Now it seems like our best lead will be to try and help Tala work out her dream seeing as it appears that this stranger has something to do with the apocalypse and is actually _showing_ it to Tala. Maybe you could start by filling us in with what happened just before the nightmares started and what they're like' Giles suggested. Tala nodded.

'They've expanded a lot since I first started having them' Tala explained, 'At first it was just this stranger in a hooded cloak who appeared after a flash back of my parents' deaths.'

'Start there then, or as near to that as you think is important' Giles suggested. Tala looked at him with an expressionless mask on her face.

'What's important happened before I was born and what was going to keep happening until my parents had a daughter. I was supposed to end it, but they didn't live long enough so I survived' she said.

'What were you supposed to end?' Willow asked her; Tala looked away.

'My mother's wasting away and my father's insanity. My four older brothers were all drowned in a ritual before I was even born. I was supposed to be given to the demon that could free my parents and return them to what they were. At least that's what my mother told me before she… before she died.'

A stony silence met this revelation.

'Go on' Buffy urged softly. Tala took a deep breath and started her story.


	4. Tala's Story

**Chapter 4 – Tala's Story**

'I don't know anything about my parents except for their names. My mum was the one who talked to me, Dad never did; he thought it was pointless to get into a relationship with me seeing as I would be sent away. Mum didn't want to let me go, she kept saying that we all died eventually and that she was old anyway, even though she was barely 30. Dad was insane; Mum told me it had happened about a year after they married, apparently they used to work together before their accident when Dad was driven mad and Mum was cursed. Apparently the demon Dad managed to contact in order to get their old lives back said she only wanted their first daughter and that she had to be alive; any sons were to be ceremoniously drowned in the same place and the bodies left for her to collect.

I learnt to take care of myself when I was old enough to walk and understand how most things in the house worked, so from about the age of two and a half; Mum used to say I was a fast learner; I used to take care of her as well. That's how I met Spike and Dru.'

_#Flashback#_

_Tala ran as fast as her short legs could carry her away from the two policemen. She didn't know what was wrong, it was only one packet of biscuits and they were for her Mum anyway. Her Mum had been really bad lately and Tala thought the biscuits might lift her spirits slightly; Dad had beaten her quite badly last night and she was a little down. Tala turned into an alleyway and found herself at a dead end; she curled up in a corner and started to cry silently as the two policemen came towards her._

'_Come out, little one, give the biscuits back and we'll take you back to your parents' one of them called._

'_Go away!' Tala sobbed as the one reached down to grab her arm; when his hand wrapped around her arm and tightened she screamed in pain. She closed her eyes and waited for the slap that she had come to associate with someone grabbing her arm. Suddenly the policeman's grip disappeared and Tala opened her eyes to see a man with bleach blonde hair pulling the policeman away from her; she watched silently as the blonde lowered his face to the policeman's neck and his face changed. She saw a dark haired woman with her mouth around the other ones neck, with a start she realised they were sucking the policemen's blood out of them. She whimpered and crawled back into her corner. After a few moments the woman dropped the policeman she was holding and her face returned to that of a normal human; Tala noticed she was quite beautiful and was wearing a white dress._

'_Ooo… look what we have, Spike; a lost little girl… ooo won't Miss Edith love her Spike? Can we take her with us? She's full of dark and light, and we need another one for our tea parties Spike' the woman said, Tala realised she must be mad like her father. The man that had grabbed the policeman off of Tala turned to the dark haired woman._

'_Come on Dru we can't go wandering around with a little girl; either eat her or leave her alone' Spike said; the woman pouted._

'_Can't eat, bad Spike. Pixies won't like it if the dark girl is eaten, no light girl must stay alive' Dru said; Spike cocked his head to one side and then looked at Tala. She tried to move closer against the wall, hoping it would swallow her up and get her away from the two monsters. Suddenly a small smile formed on Spike's lips._

'_Come on Dru we better take her home' Spike said; Dru clapped and started to dance around the alley way, muttering to herself; Spike knelt in front of Tala and offered her his hand._

'_Come on, let's get you home' he said kindly. Tala looked fearfully at Spike for a few moments before slowly reaching out and taking his offered hand._

'_What's you name?' Spike asked as he pulled her to her feet. _

'_Tala' she whispered. Spike smiled._

'_I'm Spike, and this is Drusilla.' He noticed the packet of biscuits she clutched to her chest._

'_Come on, Biscuit, me and Dru'll take you back. You shouldn't be out alone in the dark anyway' he said; Drusilla stopped her dancing and scooped Tala up into her arms._

'_Can't we take her with us, Spike?' Dru asked, seemingly sane for a few moments._

'_No Dru, we've gotta take her back to her family' Spike said, Tala watched the bleach blonde vampire from her place in Drusilla's arms as she was carefully carried back to her home._

_#End Flashback#_

'Why did you do that?' Xander asked Spike who was leaning against the shelf again. Spike looked at him.

'You would have preferred I left her to the other creatures of the night?' he asked him.

'No. I was just wondering why you helped her' Xander replied. Spike was silent for a few seconds.

'I'm still not sure why' he answered, a ghost of a smile on his face, 'Dru would never tell me why she wouldn't eat her either. I don't think either of us knew why we did it but we did.'

After a few minutes of silence Giles turned to Tala who had Dawn's arm over her shoulders offering support.

'I know this is hard but maybe you would tell us what happened after that?' Giles suggested.

'Well I used to go outside in the evenings; sometimes Spike would come and see me and sometimes Dru would come with him. After a few months Dad went into one of his phases where he's uncontrollable; me and Mum could hear him smashing things downstairs. I wanted to get out and run but I couldn't leave Mum and she was too weak to run so we hid instead. Dad found us though…'

#_Flashback#_

_The cupboard door opened and Tala's Mum was torn from her hold; Tala heard her mother scream and jumped out of the cupboard door after her. Her mother was lying on the floor, trying to pull herself up with the cabinet; her father held a revolver in his hand and a knife in the other._

'_We're running out of time so we're going to have to end it' her father yelled at her mother._

'_Charles stop this! We can hold on for another year or so' her mother pleaded; her father raised the gun as her mother managed to pull herself to her feet._

'_We were tricked; after all these years we've still been tricked by a demon!' her father was screaming at her mother now, 'All those years of training and research and we've still been tricked. Well guess what? I'm not going to take it anymore. Maybe the girl will survive but it's more than likely she'll be found!'_

_Her father smiled manically, 'Death wishes can come true!'_

_He held the gun at her mother's chest and pulled the trigger; Tala screamed as her mother hit the floor, blood pouring from her chest. She ran to her mother's side but her father grabbed her wrist and hit her with the barrel of the gun, sending her flying into the wall. Tala looked up at her father as he stood facing her a few feet away._

'_Goodbye and good luck, girl. You'll need it if she ever finds you' he snarled; he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger for a second time as Tala screamed. _

_When Spike walked in about half an hour later he saw Tala curled up against her mother's body, her mother's arm around her small frame as she cried into her shoulder. He saw her father's body and the gun in his hand; the reek of blood and gun powder almost made the vampire turn his head. Tala looked up at him as he walked over._

'_Come here' Spike said, holding out his hand. Tala stood up and ran to the blonde vampire; Spike knelt down and drew her into a hug. A hand reached up and grabbed Spike's; looking down he realised Tala's mother was still alive, though only just._

'_Look after her' she whispered, if Spike hadn't of had vampire hearing he wouldn't have heard her; he nodded._

'_I will.'_

'_Please, promise me you won't let any harm come to her' she asked. Spike nodded._

'_I promise.'_

_Tala's mother closed her eyes and grimaced._

'_I need to tell you something important' she said, breathing now becoming difficult. Spike let go of Tala and leant down to her mother. He could barely hear her but his eyes opened in surprise at what he heard._

'_Help her' her mother said before death finally took her. _

'_I promise' Spike whispered, Tala knelt beside him and held her mother's hand._

'_Mommy?' she whispered. _

'_Come on, Tala. Me and Dru'll take care of you' he said; Tala nodded and the vampire picked up the small girl and carried her back to where Drusilla was waiting for him. She'd fallen asleep before he'd even walked out of the front door, exhaustion and grief finally catching up to her._

_#End Flashback#_

There was a shocked silence, broken only by sight sniffing from Tala and Tara; Willow and Dawn put a comforting arm around the two of them. Tara felt a wave of sympathy for the girl, she knew what it was like to lose her mother but to lose both parents at once and in that way was something she couldn't imagine. Xander looked at Spike and was shocked to see the vampire quickly wipe away a tear; when Spike looked up their gazes locked and Xander nodded. He may not like Spike completely but he was now willing to accept him, Spike smiled slightly and nodded back; a sort of truce had been formed between them.

'What did she tell you?' Giles asked Spike; Spike looked at the Watcher.

'The demon that was after her' Spike replied, 'Goes by the name of Kelsa. From what I've heard since then she seems obsessed with prophecies and whatnot.'

'Kelsa? I've heard a lot about her in the demon bars; they told me she was looking for a child of a slayer' Tala said; Spike shrugged.

'Just saying what I heard' he said.

'Child of a slayer? I didn't think slayers could live long enough to have kids' Buffy said, she looked at Tala, 'Your Mum never said anything about being a slayer did she?'

Tala shook her head, 'Mum never showed any of the powers that slayers have, she didn't say anything about it either.'

'It was just a thought' Buffy said, Giles nodded.

'Why don't you carry on with your story?' Giles asked Tala.

'Not a lot left to tell really. I travelled with Spike and Dru for a while; then the idea of the Hellmouth appeared. I don't know who thought of it but Spike didn't want me to come, at first Dru wanted me to come with them but then she changed her mind and said I should stay away from here. So they got a place at a boarding school and I stayed there for about a year or so; that's when I started to see the apocalypse and I decided to get out of there. Not like I was liked there anyway, and it's not as if they missed me is it? You didn't even know I had left until I walked through the door' Tala said; Spike sighed.

'Sorry, Minion. But this isn't exactly the safest place in the world to be if you have a demon after you. At least she couldn't get hold of you at the school' Spike said; Tala's eyes narrowed.

'She couldn't get hold of me when I was with you either' she said, Spike held his hands up in defeat.

'Alright, alright; you're still pissed at me for leaving you there aren't you?' he asked; Tala shook her head.

'No, I'm pissed at the people at that shit hole' she replied, 'They took the piss out of me for being an orphan, for getting freaked by nightmares, for not being contacted by my guardians; you name it they said it. Mind you they lessened off a bit on the guardian issue when I backhanded one for insulting Dru to my face.'

'What did they say?' Spike asked.

'That she was a crack-whore whose addiction had made her go insane' Tala answered, eyes clouding with anger at the memory.

'And you backhanded them?' Tara asked; Tala looked sheepish.

'Well I _did_ but I kinda kicked him the balls as well and knocked him out when I hit him on the back of his head' she replied. The Scoobies looked at her in shock.

'What? I don't like it when people insult Dru or Spike; they took me in' she said, a little sheepish. Dawn started to snigger next to her, but when Buffy sent her a look to tell it wasn't funny she burst out laughing.

'Sorry' she said when she had calmed down, but Anya and Tara seemed to be trying to hold back smiles.

'You'd make a great vengeance demon you know' Anya said to Tala.

'Hey, no way is she becoming a vengeance demon. She's deadly enough already' Spike said, grinning at her.

'Well it's your fault. You're the one who taught me' Tala said; Spike shrugged.

'I plead guilty' he said, Tala grinned.

'Tala? Would you mind if we placed a spell on you to enable us al to see your nightmare?' Willow asked her nervously, 'We might be able to help you stop them.'

Tala froze for a few minutes and seemed to think over Willow's proposition. Finally she nodded.

'Ok, let's do it' she said.

_A/N: Well I hope you've enjoyed the first few chapters. Please review and tell me what you think. Please be nice though, it is my first Buffy fic and I am a little shaky on some aspects of Buffy, as I'm sure I've said on the first chapter… anyway I'm consulting my good friend Wikipedia for advice. Lol._

_Please review, I'll love you forever and ever!_

_Starsword_


	5. The Dream

**Chapter 5 – The Dream**

Willow smiled at Tala; the black haired girl smiled back slightly.

'We could put a spell on you put you to sleep, you'll still wake up whenever you want to' Willow added seeing the slight fear on the girl's face, 'Then when the nightmare starts we'll be able to see what happens, we can just put another spell on you. Both Tara and I will be there so one of us can help stop it if anything goes wrong, not that it will. Giles can help us as well so there'll be all three of us there.'

'Are you going to be there?' she asked Spike; Spike smiled and nodded.

'I ain't leaving you alone while you're having this nightmare' he replied; Tala smiled thankfully.

'We'll all be there' Buffy said, 'Including Dawn if you want.'

Dawn's eyes lit up as Buffy mentioned that she could be there as well, Tala nodded.

'I suggest we do this out the back where we won't be interrupted' Giles said, standing up; Tara copied him.

'I'll get the things we need' she said, going to the shelves to look for the ingredients they would need; Anya stood to help her.

'Let me help, I know where everything is' she said; Tara nodded and the two women were soon moving around the shelves collecting various things.

'I'll go make sure there's some type of comfort out there' Xander said, standing up.

'Willow, you better start to set up the spell' Giles said; Willow nodded and followed Xander out. Dawn stayed by Tala's side, her arm still around the girl's shoulders.

'Buffy I want you to keep an eye out just in case this is demon related' Giles said to his slayer. She nodded.

'Ok, demon sensors on full power' she said; Giles nodded and went to help Xander and Willow as Tara and Anya carried the various ingredients out to the training room where the spell was being cast.

'Tala?' Dawn asked quietly, the girl was sat as still as a statue staring at the floor. Spike walked in front of her and pushed her face up so she was looking at him.

'I'll be there every second that you're asleep' he promised her quietly, 'And I won't let anything happen to you.'

Tala threw her arms around the vampire's neck and he held her close to him.

'I'm here, Minion. Don't worry.'

Buffy beckoned to Dawn and the girl slipped off the counter to stand by her sister.

'You really can't believe that Spike is acting like this can you?' Dawn asked her sister quietly; Buffy shook her head.

'It's just so… not Spike' she answered, equally quiet; Dawn smiled slightly.

'Maybe you don't know him as well as you thought you did' she replied and turned back to Tala as she pulled away from Spike. Xander came out of the training room.

'We're ready when you are' he said to Tala; she nodded and took a deep breath then followed him through the door, Spike right behind her.

'I'll be right here, Minion' he said as they entered the room; Tala nodded and Willow beckoned her to the middle of the room where Xander had placed a few of the mats that Buffy used for training out as a type of mattress.

'You can lie here and we'll sit in a circle around you; when you're ready we can place the sleep spell on you. It'll be like falling asleep normally' Willow explained, 'Then when it looks like your nightmare has started we'll put another spell on you so we can see and hear what you do.'

Tala nodded and lay down on the mats; Willow and Tara sat side by side either side of her head, Spike sat down by her side and Buffy sat next to him; Dawn and Anya sat the opposite them and Giles and Xander between Buffy and Anya.

'Ready?' Tara asked; Tala nodded and lay down on the mats.

'As ready as I'll ever be' she said; she closed her eyes as Tara muttered a spell and her breathing slowed and deepened. Within a few minutes she was asleep.

'How will we know when she's having the nightmare?' Xander asked, breaking the silence that had sunk in after Tara had cast her spell.

'Trust me, you'll know' Spike muttered darkly, eyes fixed on the sleeping girl; Buffy tentatively put a hand on his shoulder, he jumped slightly.

'We'll get to the bottom of this' she said, Spike smiled slightly but his eyes never left Tala. After a few minutes Spike straightened slightly.

'Here we go' he muttered; Anya looked at the girl and realised her body had tensed slightly in her sleep and her breathing was getting shallower.

'Cast the spell, Red. It's started' Spike said quietly, Willow nodded and muttered her spell quietly; a globe started to form above Tala's sleeping form and expanded until it was similar to a television screen. The people grouped around the sleeping girl looked up and saw a dark room, so dark that the only way they could tell it was actually a room and not a black space was the fact that dark shapes of furniture could just about be made out. As Tala turned in the dream another shape could be made out, one that was moving towards them.

'Is that him?' Dawn whispered.

'I think it might be' Buffy answered, equally as quiet; a soft growl could be heard coming from Spike and Buffy placed her hand on his, hoping to calm him slightly; Spike turned to look at her momentarily and Buffy saw that he was worried and angry.

'It'll be ok' she whispered; Spike held her gaze for a few more seconds before turning back to the globe.

_The room lightened slightly and the shapes could be seen a little more clearly; the shape that was moving could now be identified as a man in a hooded cloak, the hood was up covering his face._

'_Who are you?' they heard Tala's voice say in the dream; the shape was silent._

'_Why do you tell me your name now? You never had before. You said it wasn't important, what's changed?' everyone frowned._

'Did he answer her?' Dawn asked quietly.

'Not that I heard' Willow answered; Giles frowned in thought.

'_Why did you bring me hear?' Tala asked the shape; again there was no answer that the people surrounding her body could hear. Suddenly the man moved forward and grabbed her arm. Tala screamed in the dream, but it was magnified by the fact that it came from her mouth as well._

Spike made to go to her but Willow stopped him.

'Don't. We need to find out more if we can' she said; Spike growled and made to stand up.

'Spike, sit down!' Giles snapped; Spike ignored him and Buffy pulled him back down.

'Wait' she hissed; Spike growled again but he couldn't wrench his arm from the Slayer's grip.

'_Where are you taking me?' Tala asked the shape as she was dragged to a door. In her mind as she dreamt Tala heard the man's reply._

'_I'm showing you what you are going to bring on' he answered. Tala swallowed as he pulled open the door and pushed her through it. Suddenly she was standing on a cliff looking down over a city; the buildings were burning and people were running through the streets. The cloaked man held her arm and led her down the cliff and through the streets; everywhere she looked Tala saw human corpses lying on the ground, some had been ripped open and partly devoured, other's had been completely eaten, and other's still had just been left to rot. Some humans were still alive, barely able to breathe as their life left them; Tala felt tears come to her eyes._

'_Why?' she asked him. The man turned to look at her._

'_Because there will come a time when demons will rule and humans will be nothing but vermin for us to feed on' he answered, he moved closer tightening his grip on her arm and she cried out in pain, 'Because it is the time of the demons. For too long have humans ruled this dimension, now it is our turn. We will come in numbers and we will feast until the sun, moon and stars have turned as red as the land.'_

_Tala saw a woman with a baby running through the streets, a vampire chasing her; Tala knew the woman was dead before the vampire lunged, the baby flew from her arms and into the side of a building; when the baby hit the ground it was silent and Tala knew it was dead._

'Is that the apocalypse?' Dawn asked; Buffy pulled her sister to her as tears started to run down the girl's face. Tala's body was twitching and shaking, her head falling from side to side and sweat running down her forehead.

'End the spell' Spike said, looking at Willow and Tara, 'End it! We have to wake her up!'

'The spell ends once she wakes' Tara said shakily.

'Then wake her!' Spike snapped.

'We can't. She has to wake by herself, that's the whole point of the sleep spell. The person wakes when they're ready' Tara said, voice shaking. Spike cursed. Suddenly the scene in the globe changed again.

_The man threw Tala away from him and she landed on her back; she was in the same room she had been in before except this time it was lighted by candles. She looked around and took in the old furniture and dark appearance of the entire room even though it was filled with candle light. Tala looked back at the man, fearfully; he had never taken her back to the room before._

Spike had gone rigid, eyes wide.

'Wake her up' he said quietly, barely audible.

'Spike, what-?'

'WAKE HER UP!' he bellowed, leaping to his feet and trying to run towards Tala; he had almost reached her when he was thrown back by an invisible force.

'Spike!' Dawn yelled as he hit the wall with a sickening crunch and slid down to the floor; he seemed unfazed though as he stood up, eyes still fearful.

'Spike, what's wrong?' Giles asked him; Spike turned to the Watcher, shaking slightly.

'I know that place' he answered, 'I've been there. I've _lived_ there.'

Another scream came from Tala's body and dream.

_The man grabbed her arm again and pulled her to her feet, slamming her against the wall._

'_I thought you weren't supposed to tell anyone' he hissed, using his voice instead of speaking in her mind like he usually did. Tala whimpered as his grip became stronger._

Spike was shaking, anger blazing in his blue eyes.

'Touch and I swear I'll kill you!' he hissed at the globe.

'Spike what are you talking about?' Giles snapped.

'I know who it is' Spike said quietly, he sounded defeated.

'Who-?' Xander was interrupted by another scream; the man had backhanded Tala across her face and she was back on the floor in her dream.

'Is there anyway to wake her?' Spike asked Willow and Tara. Tara shook her head; tears were falling quietly down her cheeks.

'No' she whispered, Willow looked equally as defeated as Tara did.

_Tala was lifted by her neck back to her feet and then held against the wall; she felt her body lift from the ground and she struggled against the iron grip of the vampire who held her._

'_You'll do well to follow my instructions in future' he hissed._

'Tala! Wake up! Please, wake up!' Spike yelled, trying to reach the girl again but being thrown back.

'Spike who is it?' Buffy asked; Spike ignored her. Dawn was holding onto Buffy, terrified by what was happening in the dream in front of her, suddenly she gasped.

'Look' she pointed to Tala's body where blood was running from her split lip.

'She actually being hurt physically by the dream' Buffy whispered; Tara looked terrified.

'We should be able to touch her' she said, 'Something else has cast a spell. We can't touch her until she wakes up.'

Tala's body was thrashing on the mats it was lying on as she was backhanded again by the man in the dream. Spike walked forward, slower this time, testing how far he could go before he was thrown back. He reached out an arm when he was an arm's length away and was immediately thrown back against the wall for a third time. He stood up again.

'What do we do?' Xander asked.

'Give her something that will make her feel less scared; something she could associate with safety' Anya suggested in a quiet voice; Spike looked at the ex-vengeance demon and suddenly an idea struck him. He took off his leather duster and walked forwards again, when he was an arm's length away he stopped and dropped the duster over Tala's body. A hand grasped the leather and Spike looked at the globe again.

_Tala had been beaten more than she had ever been in her dreams, suddenly she felt a slight weight appear around her body and realised that Spike's leather duster had somehow appeared around her shoulders._

'_What-?'_

_He was cut off however as she felt consciousness tugging at her mind; she smiled slightly._

'_I'll be waiting, I promise you I'll be waiting' he hissed in her mind as she finally stopped thrashing and opened her eyes._

Spike visibly relaxed slightly when Tala opened her eyes, her hand gripping the leather duster tighter. She looked around slowly, eyes wide as she tried to reassure herself that she was awake.

'You ok, Minion?' he asked her, Tala turned her eyes to him and he knelt beside her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Her shoulders started to shake as she sobbed into his shoulder quietly. Tara and Willow watched on guiltily, feeling it was partly their fault for casting the spells; Willow feeling even guiltier as she had been the one to suggest it. Dawn slowly started to stop shaking as Buffy held her tightly; Giles watched his Slayer and her sister and the vampire and girl as they were each locked in their own reassuring embrace; Anya watched on with a slight empathy and sympathy for the girl in the Master Vampire's arms, Xander watched from the side wondering who the man in the dream had been and what significance it was going to be in trying to work out their newest apocalypse. Finally Tala's small voice pierced the oppressive silence.

'Spike?' Tala paused for a moment, 'Whose Angelus?'

_A/N: Am I evil, or am I slightly evil? I want to make apologies to anyone who may have been affected by anything in the nightmare scene I don't know about everyone's personal experiences but if it affected you in any negative way I'm really sorry. I want to thank all my wonderful reviewers I love every single one of you! I want to apologize for the fact that the Initiative and Dawn are there at the same time, I plead temporary stupidity… actually I plead just stupidity, it's not temporary. I've put an AU tab on the summary because I do want Riley and the Initiative in the story… plot reasons… don't ask, best not to when it comes to my plot ideas lol._

_Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers and readers. I love every single one of you! Cookies for all! #throws out cookies for readers and chocolate cookies for her reviewers# Thank you!_

_Hopefully the next update will be up soon._

_Starsword_


	6. Angelus

**Chapter 6 – Angelus**

You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed Tala's question; Spike had stiffened at his grand-sire's name. Tara still had tears running silently down her cheeks as she grasped Willow's hand; both Willow and Xander had paled when Tala had mentioned Angelus, even Anya had sat up in curiosity at the mention of the master vampire. Giles had taken off his glasses and was wiping them furiously. Buffy had frozen at Angel's name; she was the first one to break the silence.

'Angel?' she asked quietly; Tala turned her head to look at Buffy.

'Who is he?' she asked, voice shaking. Spike shot Buffy a warning look over the top of Tala's head.

'He's a vampire' Spike answered quietly.

'He's in L.A; he left Sunnydale a while ago' Buffy told her, she swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. Dawn returned her sister's hug a little tighter; she knew Buffy had never really gotten over Angel leaving her. Tala was still shaking slightly, so was Dawn; Buffy tightened her grip on her sister and rubbed her back.

'He was here?' Tala asked; Buffy nodded.

'Long story short, we were… we were in a relationship and then he lost his soul and I had to send him to hell' Buffy answered, 'But he came back with his soul and now he's moved to L.A.'

'He's a Master Vampire of the line of-'

'Watcher' Spike said warningly. Tala had a vague idea of what Angelus had done to Dru and him but had never known his name, if someone said he was from the line of Aurelius she would piece it together, and he didn't want her knowing that the only vampire he feared was the one in her nightmare. Tala looked up at him.

'Spike, who's Angelus?' Tala asked again. Spike sighed and looked away.

'My grand-sire' he answered in a monotone.

'But wouldn't that make him-'

'Dru's sire. The one who tortured her into insanity before turning her; the one who tortured me into a vampire. He's a Master Vampire of the line of Aurelius. Once one of the most feared vampires to have walked this earth' Spike replied, 'Goes by the name of Angel now, got himself cursed with a soul.'

'Angel's different now, his soul helped him change' Buffy said, Spike snorted.

'All that soul gave him was guilt. Guilt he can't live with, so he gave up killing and torturing humans. Why do you think he hates me so much Slayer? Aside from the fact Dru came to me after she left him, he hates me because I'm a constant reminder of everything he's ever done; a constant reminder of all the torture he ever inflicted. You think he stopped torturing me once he thought I'd left everything that was William behind? Think again Slayer; Angelus kept torturing me because he enjoyed it and because he knew that if it made me cry out in pain it would definitely work on others. You have no _idea_ what Angelus is like, Slayer. You may think you know Angel but you haven't even glimpsed what _Angelus_ can do. That idea of the railroad spikes came from Angelus… he used stakes but stakes aren't as painful for humans. Let me tell you something, Slayer. If you ever had to fight Angelus alone you'd never, _never_ be able to beat him, let alone kill him. No vampire or Slayer that is walking around now would be able to defeat him' Spike said, glaring at Buffy as he said it, 'I went from a fledgling to a Master vampire in under a century because I had Angelus training me, I killed two Slayers because I had Angelus torture me and I know when someone wants to die, when someone's given up.'

The silence that followed Spike's speech was almost deafening. Spike had never spoken so freely about what Angelus had put him through, the hatred that Spike spoke of Angelus with was frightening, but the most terrifying part of his speech was how he spoke of Angelus with fear in his voice and a respect that you have for someone when you know they could make you submit easily.

'What if he comes back? What if he comes back not as Angel but as Angelus?' Dawn asked, voice shaking. Spike looked up at her.

'Then he'll have to dust me before he gets his hands on anyone. If Angelus comes here you run as fast and as hard as you bloody can while I distract him. I won't let him hurt you, Nibblet' Spike told her, tightening his hold on Tala as he said it.

'But surely Angel's soul will stop him from doing anything' Xander said.

'He's already lost it once, who's to say he won't lose it again?' Giles said, rubbing his temple.

'Maybe Angel's being more careful about what he does so he doesn't lose his soul again' Tara suggested.

'Given the chance he'll be back to good ol' Angelus in the blink of an eye; he may feel guilty about what he's done but after a few decades maybe he'll get used to it or maybe he'll realise it'll go away if he loses his soul. He's still getting used to the guilt he feels, maybe he won't go back to Angelus, and I won't be one complaining if he doesn't. But one moment of insecurity and he'll want to be what he was. Being a vampire changes you, luv. Angel is no longer Liam, just as I'm no longer William. Once you've been turned there's no going back, you can't be the person you were; there's no getting rid of the demon inside of you, even if you wanted to. Death's a gift when you're tired of centuries' worth of existence.'

A short silence followed Spike's second speech, and then Xander broke it again.

'But Angel's in L.A. he's not here. So, for now, we're ok, right?'

'He's right' Anya said, quietly.

'Just because we think Angel's in L.A. doesn't mean he is and that he can't do anything' Giles said.

'I meant Spike' Anya said, she seemed to be looking at something none of them could see. She looked up at the others.

'You never can get rid of the demon; it becomes a part of you. I may be human now but sometimes I feel myself thinking or acting like the demon I was. You never can escape it. Angel may have a soul but inside, somewhere, he'll always be Angelus. I'll always have Anyaka inside me somewhere; we can't escape our inner demons. Especially you, Buffy.'

Everyone turned to look at Buffy.

'What do you mean?' she asked. Spike raised his eyebrows.

'Has the Watcher never told you about the origins of the Slayer?' he asked. Buffy looked at Giles who seemed a little uncomfortable.

'No' Buffy answered quietly.

'When the first Slayer was created the Watcher's council took the essence of a demon and put it inside a human girl; when that Slayer died the essence passed into another girl and so it goes on' Giles told her, 'Well that's the story in a nutshell but you get the general idea.'

'So I've got a demon inside me?' Buffy asked.

'No, you have the _essence_ of a demon in you; the essence gives you your supernatural strength, agility, speed etc. The essence makes you the Slayer' Giles explained.

'So, it's not like a vampire or something?' Buffy asked; Spike flinched internally when she said that. Giles shook his head.

'No, it isn't' he answered; Buffy nodded, seemingly trying to process everything that had been said so far that evening.

'Shouldn't we be discussing the problem at hand? We've now had a long talk about demons and about Angel's history but nothing on what to do' Giles said.

'What can we do Watcher?' Spike demanded. Giles was about to retaliate when Tara spoke up.

'Why don't we try at the local demon bars and try and gain some information?' she suggested.

'That's a good idea' Buffy said, 'We can start going around tomorrow; right now I gotta go patrol.'

'You really think there's anything out there? Not a single bloody thing in any of the cemeteries' Spike said, 'No new fledglings or anything.'

'And you would know this how?' Buffy asked, hands on her hips as she stood up. Spike smirked.

'I live in a cemetery, Slayer' he stated. Buffy raised her eyebrows.

'So just because your cemetery's quiet means every single other one is, does it?' she demanded. Dawn rolled her eyes at Willow; the witch tried her best to keep a straight face.

'Do you two ever stop?' she asked.

'Well if he'd stop trying to be an insufferable know-it-all maybe we would' Buffy said, shooting Spike a glare.

'This coming from a control-freak who thinks everyone's at her beck and call 'cos she's the Slayer?'

Spike and Buffy were stood in the centre of the circle and Tala was now sat between Dawn and Willow; she caught Dawn's eye and the two tried to stifle their giggles. It may not be obvious to everyone else but they could see the vampire and slayer liked each other more than they were willing to say.

'_I'm_ a control freak?' Buffy demanded; Giles took off his glasses and started to clean them as he stood to go back up to the shop.

'You're the one who has an ego the size of Asia' Buffy snapped.

'As opposed to the one who keeps coming back for col-'

Buffy aimed a right hook at Spike and he took a step back to regain his balance; he smirked at the petite blonde in front of him.

'Can't admit it can you Slayer?' he taunted; Buffy looked ready to dust him.

'Keep it up Spike and you really _will_ be a big pile of dust' she hissed.

'You're all talk, Slayer' Spike snorted; Xander and Anya stood and followed Giles upstairs with a quick 'Goodbye'.

'Do you think she'll actually dust him?' Tara whispered to Willow; the witch shook her head with a smile. Obviously Buffy heard her because she answered at the same time as Willow.

'Hell, yes'

'Hell, no'

'Willow, you're supposed to be helping!' Buffy said to her best friend. Dawn sniggered; Spike smirked.

'Got a little back up trouble Slayer?' he asked.

'I swear Spike, one day you're gonna meet the end of Mr Pointy.'

'She likes him' Willow whispered to Tara.

'Willow I heard that!' Buffy said as she continued to glare at Spike. Dawn and Tala were both giggling madly.

'Anyone have a camera? If they end up kissing I want to use it as blackmail' Tala whispered to Dawn. Dawn burst out laughing.

'Minion' Spike said warningly.

'Willow do you honestly think I could do that with a vampire?' Buffy demanded. Spike snorted.

'Already did, luv. Remember good ol' Peaches?'

Buffy aimed a punch at his nose that he caught.

'Tut, tut, Slayer. We're slacking' Spike taunted. Willow gestured to the stairs and the four girls all stood up and sneaked to the stairs. The two blondes were oblivious to what the others were doing as they started to fight; or rather Buffy aimed punches at Spike that he continuously dodged. Finally Spike was able to pin her up against the wall, he pinned her wrists next to her head on the wall and used his body to stop her from struggling.

'Pinned, Slayer?' he smirked. Buffy scowled and tried to twist out of his grip but he held her too tightly.

'Let go of me, Spike' she said, glaring up at him. Spike's response was to move closer to her to pin her tighter.

'Or what, Slayer? You stake me? Turn me into a big pile of dust?' Spike smirked.

'You're pinned, Slayer. You hate the fact that you're not in control for once, don't you?' he asked her quietly, Buffy looked into his eyes and had the strange sensation that he could look right through her. For the first time since Spike had gotten the chip she was scared of him, not because he had her pinned to a wall but because he was giving her the impression that he could read her like an open book.

'Let go of me, Spike' she said, except instead of her demanding tone she'd used before it came out sounding like a plea. Spike looked at her in surprise.

'Slayer-'

'Spike, let go of me' Buffy repeated.

'Why are you scared?' he asked her.

'I'm not scared Spike' she said, though she knew her voice did nothing to help convince him of her statement.

'I can smell a lie, pet' he told her; Buffy shivered involuntarily.

'How can you do that?' she asked him; Spike raised an eyebrow.

'Do what, pet?' he asked; Buffy looked him in the eyes as she felt a tear run down her cheek. _What the hell is wrong with you, Buffy? You shouldn't be crying like this. Be the bloody Slayer and stand up to the vampire!_ She told herself. _Just twist, punch, kick and scream at him; then walk away and forget that you ever had a weak moment in front of him._

'Make me think you can see right through me' she answered, going against what her inner voice was screaming at her. Spike released one of her hands and wiped away her tear with his thumb.

'Maybe I understand you a bit more than you realise, kitten' he replied. He pulled Buffy to him and held her, rubbing her back softly.

'I'll see you tomorrow, pet' he said as he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. He was gone before Buffy could register what had happened; she heard the tinkle of the shop bell and knew that he and Tala had left for his crypt. Wiping away the tears that were still on her face she took a deep breath and went upstairs to the others; the four girls turned and walked back to Revello Road.

_A/N: Heya, sorry it took me so long to update. Well I can't really think of much to say except thank you to all my readers and a big thanks to my reviewers! throws out cookies for everyone (you all know which ones you're getting lol) _

_Hopefully the next chapter'll be up soon. _

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	7. Training

_A/N: Omg I am so sorry about the long time I took to update… I've had a slight writer's block as to how to write this chapter I promise I'll try not to take this long again. I own nothing so I'll get on with the story…_

_Spike: Yeah cos you don't want the readers to kill you_

_Me: No shit Sherlock_

_Spike: Well it's not my fault you took so bloody long to update._

_Me: Well I COULD blame you cos you are in the story._

_Spike: Yeah but it's not my fault is it? It's yours._

_Me: … Shut up Spike!_

_Spike: Well sorry for telling the readers that you've been too busy playing on PC games to write._

_Me: … You weren't supposed to tell them that! I got stuck and it was bugging me!_

_Spike: No it crashed and you had to reinstall it and you wanted to get back to where you were._

_Me: Same thing..._

_Spike: No its-_

_Buffy: Can we get on with the story? I really wanna get that… incident… sorted out._

_Spike: Why? Can't accept-_

_Me: ANYWAY… on with the story!!_

**Chapter 7 – Training**

Three days later Buffy was sat in the Magic Box with Willow and Tara trying to piece together anything that might point out when the apocalypse would rear its ugly head at them. Buffy's mind was on what had happened in the training room three nights ago and it was proving difficult for her to concentrate on the books in front of her; groaning in frustration she closed the book with a snap and lent back in her chair.

'This is pointless,' she said, 'There's nothing in these books that can tell us anything we want to know.'

Tara nodded, 'I agree with Buffy this isn't getting us anywhere.'

Anya looked over from her place at the cash register.

'Why not go to some demon bars like Tala suggested the other night?' she asked; Buffy sighed, that meant a meeting with the bleached vampire she really didn't want to have.

'Alright I'll go grab Spike and we'll go raid the demon bars when the sun goes down' she said.

Buffy walked into the crypt; she immediately shrank into the shadows when she saw Spike and Tala in the middle of the crypt floor. Spike was wearing his shirt and jeans and Tala was in a sleeveless top and a pair of jogging bottoms. Buffy watched as Tala ducked under Spike's arm and aimed a kick at his legs; he grabbed her leg and knocked her other one from under her. Tala landed on her back and groaned.

'Same thing, Minion. You gotta make sure you can get out of it otherwise you're gonna be on you're back again' Spike said, he helped Tala up.

'I know, I know' she groaned; Spike raised an eyebrow.

'If you knew you wouldn't keep making the same mistake' he said, Tala glared at him. Spike sighed and looked over at Buffy.

'What you doing here, Slayer?' he asked; Buffy walked out of the shadows.

'You're good' she said to Tala; Tala smiled.

'I can hold my own in a fight at least' she said; Buffy smiled.

'Wanna spar with me?' she asked; Tala looked at Buffy.

'Ok' she said. Spike raised an eyebrow and sat on the sarcophagus and watched them as they got into fighting positions.

'Ready?' Buffy asked; Tala nodded.

Buffy made the first attack; she aimed a kick at Tala's chest that the girl managed to dodge by stepping backwards; Tala responded by leaping forwards and aiming a punch at Buffy. The Slayer spun away from it and used her foot to try and trip up the girl; she succeeded but Tala managed to keep her balance and turned to face the Slayer again. Both girls stood, breathing heavily, and watched each other for sign of another attack. Tala attacked first, this time, aiming a kick at Buffy's legs; the Slayer dodged and grabbed hold of Tala's arm spinning her round into a headlock. Tala managed to twist out of it just in time and aimed a kick at the back of the Slayer's legs; Buffy twisted away and leapt on top of the girl, pinning her to the ground. Buffy stood up and offered Tala her hand.

'You're really good' she said as she helped the girl up. Tala smiled.

'I'm glad I don't have to face you in a fight' she said; Buffy laughed.

'Well if that wasn't the most interesting fight I've ever watched I don't know what is' Spike commented walking over to them.

'Spike we need to go round the demon bars and see if any demons have information on the newest apocalypse' Buffy said as Tala went to the fridge to get something to drink. Spike nodded.

'Alright, pet. Give me a minute' he said. Buffy nodded and looked at Tala.

'You can go back to mine and hang out with Dawn if you want. I told her you'd probably be over and you can stay over if you want' she said; Tala smiled.

'Thanks Buffy' she said, going over to a small trapdoor, opening it and dropping down. Buffy frowned slightly in confusion as Spike walked over.

'Managed to sort out a bedroom for her' Spike explained as he shrugged on his duster. Buffy nodded.

'You wanna wait for Tala?' she asked. Spike shook his head.

'She'll kill me if I do. She'll be fine' he said. Buffy nodded.

'I'll see you tomorrow, Minion!' Spike yelled.

'Bye!' Tala called from downstairs as the vampire and Slayer walked out of the crypt.

Buffy followed Spike into a crowded demon bar; even after all this time of being a Slayer she was still amazed at how many different types of demons there were. She followed the vampire through the throng of demons up to the bar.

'What can I get ya'?' the bartender asked Spike.

'I'm here to get information' Spike said, leaning on the counter; Buffy leant back against the counter and watched the demons around them, she realised that there were more vampires than other demons here.

'What type of information?' she heard the bartender ask Spike.

'I hear there's sommat wants to bring on a type of apocalypse' Spike answered, 'Know anything about it?'

The bartender eyed him suspiciously, 'Why you want to know, vampire?'

Spike smirked, 'Got a score to settle with the Slayer' he answered; Buffy glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

'What type of score?'

'Well the Slayer took advantage of my chipped state a while back; I'll offer my services to whoever's trying to bring this apocalypse round in return for them taking the chip out' Spike answered, 'I can keep the Slayer busy.'

The bartender eyed him or a moment the glanced at Buffy.

'Who's that?' he asked Spike. Spike looked at Buffy and sent her a warning look.

'Childe to be' he answered; Buffy had an urge to shove his head into the bar.

'To be?' the bartender asked, raising his eyebrows. Spike laughed slightly.

'Expect me to give up good sport early? Better to break 'em as humans before they get stronger; they submit easier when they're vamps if you do' he answered; Buffy had a strange feeling he was talking about what Angelus had done to him and Drusilla. The bartender nodded.

'And you would be?' the bartender asked.

'Spike; Master of the line of Aurelius' he answered; Buffy saw a look of dawning spread across the bartender's face.

'Aurelius?' he asked; Spike smirked.

'The one and only' he said; Buffy had never realised what the name Aurelius meant in the demon world, but looking at the bartender now she had a vague idea of how feared it was. The bartender watched Spike for a few moments then nodded.

'Demon by the name of Kelsa's getting a load of demons together to help her get hold of the daughter of a Slayer; something about a prophecy or something similar. That's all I know; she's put a vampire in charge of getting some to her from this bar. He's sitting over there' he pointed to a large vampire sat at a table talking to a group of three brown, long haired demons with horns, 'Name's Jake; you want to join Kelsa go talk to him.'

'Much appreciated' Spike said. The bartender nodded and Spike signalled for Buffy to follow him; he led her to a spot by the wall.

'What was all that about wanting to get back at the Slayer Spike?' she asked with a deadly twinkle in her eye. Spike rolled his eyes.

'Oh come on what am I gonna say? That I'm helping the Slayer?' he asked her, Buffy shrugged. Spike rolled his eyes.

'Just remember this Slayer. Whilst we're here you're not the Slayer and you're set to be Sired by me, you say anything different or act any different and our cover's blown' he said. Buffy sighed but nodded, knowing it was the best cover for the time being. The three brown demons moved away from the vampire and Spike started to walk over, Buffy followed and Spike sat down opposite Jake; Buffy perched on the arm of the chair.

'Who are you?' Jake asked; Buffy realised he was bulky, like Angel and Riley, and had short dark hair. A scar ran along his cheek, pulling the edge of eye into an odd angle.

'Spike; Master of the line of Aurelius' Spike answered; offering his hand across the table. Jake took it with interest all over his face; he noticed Buffy.

'And who's this tasty little morsel?' he asked, raking his gaze over Buffy's body. Buffy's dearest wish at that moment was to walk over and stake him.

'My Childe to be and none of you're business' Spike snarled. Jake looked at him.

'Childe to be?'

'Keeping her human for sport for the time being; easier to break em as humans and then turn 'em. She's mine' Spike answered shortly. Jake's eyes went to her neck.

'She doesn't have your marks of possession' he said; Spike's eyes narrowed.

'Look mate I'm here to get information about Kelsa not for you to take my Childe away from me' he snapped. Jake looked at Spike.

'Why do you want to know about Kelsa?' he asked, his gaze going back to Buffy.

'Got a score to settle with the Slayer' Spike answered, not letting his eyes leave Jake in case he tried to make a move; 'You get this bloody chip out of my head I'll handle the Slayer while you do what you want with the rest of the bloody world.'

Jake nodded, 'I'll see what Kelsa says. If you're still interested meet me here tomorrow, same time.'

Spike nodded, 'Agreed.'

He stood up and Buffy stood to follow him when Jake's voice stopped them.

'Just one thing; how do I know you're serious about this?' he asked; Spike turned to look at him.

'Why wouldn't I be?' he asked; Jake shrugged.

'Just as a show of confidence to make sure you come back here, why don't you leave your Childe with us?' he suggested; Spike growled.

'So you can turn her yourself and claim her? Not bloody likely' Spike snarled; Jake's eyes narrowed.

'Either you leave her with us or you don't and you'll be finding yourself fighting beside the Slayer to avoid Kelsa's minions' he said; Spike growled.

'Let's talk about this, I have an idea' Buffy said quietly to Spike. Spike looked at her but nodded.

'Give us a minute' he snapped to Jake and dragged Buffy into one of the back rooms; it showed signs of recent use, though what for Buffy didn't even want to start imagining.

'Something tells me I'm not going to like this idea, Slayer' Spike said as he closed the door. Buffy raised her eyebrows.

'Probably not but you're going to agree to it whether you like it or not' she said; Spike raised his eyebrows.

'What is it you plan on doing?' he asked.

'Send me with him and then come back tomorrow with the rest of the gang, but make sure it doesn't appear as if they're with you; I'll try and learn as much as I can and then we leave tomorrow saying we'll come back and talk some more another time' Buffy explained, 'Well that's the general outline of it anyway. If it looks like something bad is about to happen I can escape during the day.'

Spike raised his eyebrows, 'You do realise you've just signed your own death certificate, don't you? That git wants to turn you so he can claim you for his own.'

Buffy sighed, 'Do you think I'm unarmed? I can dust him and run.'

'He's gonna be with a load of demons pet, and with no recent marks of possession on you, you're gonna be a vamp before you can take a stake out.'

Buffy frowned, 'What do you mean no recent marks of possession?'

Spike sighed, 'You really need to learn more about vampires pet. When a vampire claims another vampire, or human whatever, the claiming bite is always redone every so often to strengthen the claim. The only claiming marks you've had are those from Peaches and Dracula, neither of them have been redone any time in the past few months. You've got no proper protection if you go in there with only a stake, Slayer.'

Buffy raised her eyebrows, 'You got any better ideas?'

'We don't go through with you're plan?' Spike suggested, Buffy glared at him. He put his hands up in surrender, 'Okay, okay.'

Spike sighed, 'The only other thing I can think of is if you let me claim you.'

'Are you completely insane?' Buffy asked, 'You expect me to let you claim me?'

Spike frowned, 'Slayer we've already said I'm going to Sire you and that literally means a claim; the claim will fade in time anyway and the one Peaches did on you is literally non existent. Only the marks are left so the only protection they'll give you is if the demons only glance at them. They'll be tasting you're blood Slayer and you can _taste_ a claim as well as see it. If I claim you now the claim'll be too strong for them to be able to do much. Sure they can Sire you if they want to but there wont be a lot of point because my claim'll still have some presence.'

Buffy groaned, 'This is getting confusing now.'

Spike rolled his eyes. 'Get that Watcher of yours to teach you something useful about vampires' he snapped. Buffy glared at him.

'Alright say I agree to this, how long does it take for these claims to wear off and what does the claim entail?' she asked. Spike shrugged.

'The essence of the claim'll wear off in about a year or so, probably not that long. The claim'll also let me be able to sense where you are; usually you can feel strong emotions through the claim as well. Its two way and is similar to a mating claim; but a mating claim needs you both to take some blood and say you belong to each other and a load of other stuff as well, but that's not important at the moment; this type of claim is almost like a preparation for a mating claim, it binds the claimants for a while; not like a mating claim, don't worry Slayer, but similar.'

Buffy nodded slowly, 'Alright say I agree to this, you'll be able to tell if I'm in trouble?'

Spike nodded, 'You will agree to this Slayer cos I'm not agreeing to your plan if you don't.'

Buffy glared at him, 'So if I need help you'll know?'

Spike nodded, 'And I can tell where you are as well so I can get you out quickly.'

'I don't need protecting, Spike. I can look after myself' Spike snorted which earned him a glare, 'But if I need help getting out then you'll know where I am and can get the gang to help get me out.'

Spike nodded, 'Might not have time to get your precious Scoobies but I can get you out.'

Buffy sighed, 'Alright fine, but you do not use this claim to manipulate me in any way understood?'

Spike smirked and nodded, 'Understood, pet.'

Buffy sighed again, 'Alright what do you have to do?'

_A/N: Sooo… did anyone expect Buffy to let him do that? No? Well it is a SPUFFY fic people! Lol. Thank you to my wonderful reviewer: Indigo Moon Star you're lovely and wonderful and I love you to bits and I baked you a cake with the characters on the top in sugar paper and it's got 'A Big Thank You' in icing on the top! I'm so proud of myself… I didn't set the house on fire while I cooked it!_

_Thanks to my readers I got you all chocolate chip cookies! Now all I can say is: PLEASE REVIEW!!!_

_Spike: Yeah before she has a panic attack and can't write… oh what a shame that would be…_

_Me: Oi! If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be in this story… I could have started it after Chosen when you're a pile of ashes._

_Xander: Now why couldn't she have done that?_

_Buffy: You know I agree… why is Spike claiming me?_

_Spike: Well I wasn't complaining this could be amusing…_

_Giles: Amusing? Do you know what a claim means?_

_Spike: I'm a vampire._

_Giles: Yes… well…_

_Buffy: Yeah why is he claiming me?_

_Me: Well if I told you that it would ruin the story!_

_Ciao for now!_

_Starsword_


	8. Claiming

**Chapter 8 – Claiming**

Spike raised a scarred eyebrow. 'You're agreeing to it?'

Buffy rolled her eyes, 'I didn't have a lot of choice did I?'

Spike smirked; 'All I have to do is bite you and claim you, you accept the claim and it's done.'

Buffy raised her eyebrows, 'That's it?'

Spike nodded, 'That's it.'

'How do I accept the claim?'

'I claim you by saying "Mine" and you confirm the claim by saying "Yours" or something like that anyway.'

Buffy nodded, 'Let's get it over with.'

Spike nodded and walked over to her, 'Ready, pet?'

Buffy rolled her eyes, 'Just get it over with.'

Spike shrugged and slipped into game face, Buffy flinched as his fangs pierced her neck. Spike took a few mouthfuls of blood; Buffy grabbed onto his shoulders to keep herself standing as she felt Spike's arms go around her waist. Spike took his fangs out and licked the blood from the two puncture holes; he moved up to her ear.

'Mine!' he growled; Buffy's legs felt like they were about to give way when she remembered she had to return the claim.

'Yours!' she said quietly. Spike pulled back but kept his arms around her.

'You okay, pet?' he asked; Buffy nodded.

'Just a little shaky' she replied, she took a few deep breaths, thanking the Power That Be for Slayer healing and stepped back.

'I'll be fine in a few minutes' she said; Spike nodded.

'Forgot that claims can make you weak' he thought aloud. Buffy rolled her eyes.

'Trust you to remember that _afterwards'_ she snapped; Spike rolled his eyes. After a few minutes of silence he spoke again.

'You okay now pet?' he asked; Buffy nodded and fingered the closed marks on her neck, she glared at Spike.

'You covered Angel's marks' she said; Spike rolled his eyes.

'If you're so worried about it get him to claim you when you next see him' he snapped; Buffy snorted.

'Not likely' she retorted. Spike glared at her.

'Then why are you so worried about me covering them then?' he asked; Buffy shrugged and walked out the room and back into the main bar. Spike growled to himself and followed her out; as they headed back over to Jake Spike spoke to Buffy quietly.

'Might take a while to get used to some effects of the claim; I shouldn't worry too much if you get this feeling of happiness or anger and frustration in the back of your mind, it'll be my emotions. I'll be getting the same thing from you' he told her. Buffy nodded.

'Alright. What happens if I want to…' she paused, as much as she hated to she had to ask it, 'If I want you to get me out how do I get you to come to wherever I am?'

Spike smirked, 'I'll be able to sense it if you need help. If you want to get out of there just yell my name in you're head and I'll feel a sharp pain in the back of my head telling me you want me.'

Buffy smirked 'Like the chip?'

'No, not as bad as the chip' Spike answered, he was about to say something else when Jake walked over to them.

'You're answer?' he asked; Spike's eyes narrowed.

'She's agreed to go with you,' he said, 'One thing. If you've done anything to her I promise you won't live to see another night's hunt.'

Jake smirked, 'Don't want us to save you some time breaking her?'

Spike growled, 'I mean it.'

Jake shrugged and looked at Buffy, eyes raking her body again; Buffy fought the urge to squirm under his gaze, alarm bells went off when his gaze rested on her neck. Jake frowned.

'You claimed her I see' he said; Spike smirked.

'That I did' he said, his smirk grew as he added, 'Now you _know_ you can't administer a claim or mating claim. Not with a fresh claim anyway.'

Jake snarled, 'Very well; same time, same place, tomorrow and come alone.'

Spike nodded, 'You come alone with her unharmed, understand? Or you'll learn how I got the name William the Bloody.'

A flicker of fear passed over Jake's face and he nodded. 'See you tomorrow, Spike.'

'Tomorrow.'

Jake took Buffy's upper arm in a vice like grip, Spike growled slightly as Jake led Buffy out of the bar. Buffy would have shrugged his arm off but she didn't want to anger him or give herself away as the Slayer just yet. As they reached the door she twisted round and saw Spike watching from the bar; she felt a sense of calm enter her and she suddenly realised that Spike was sending it to her through the newly administered claim. She smiled at him before being led out of the door.

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Buffy was led into a car behind the demon bar; Jake signalled for her to get in the passenger side. Buffy complied and soon they were driving to the outskirts of Sunnydale, she stayed silent as he pulled up outside an old warehouse. She was just wondering why vampires seemed to like warehouses and factories when her arm was grabbed again and she was dragged inside. Jake knocked on the door and a small rectangle was opened at eye level, a pair of eyes looked out and took in the forms of Jake and Buffy before the doors were thrown open and Buffy was dragged in. The doors closed behind them and she turned to see a warehouse full of vampires.

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea_, Buffy thought to herself as the vampires turned to look at her.

'Boys we've got a guest with us tonight' Jake said, grinning at Buffy, 'She's claimed and she's going back to a Master of Aurelius tomorrow but until then, she's OURS!'

Buffy's eyes went wide as she turned to see the vampires, now all in game face, grinning at her.

_Definitely not of the good_ she thought to herself.

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Spike sighed and left the demon bar, deciding he may as well tell the Scoobies what had happened to the Slayer he set off for the Magic Box.

Giles was talking to Anya at the counter when Spike walked in from the basement; Xander, Willow, Tara, Dawn and Tala were all sat around the table talking. When Spike walked in they all looked up at him. Giles frowned when he saw that Buffy wasn't with the vampire.

'Where's Buffy?' Giles demanded.

'What have you done with her?' Xander asked; Spike put his hands up in surrender with a sigh.

'Why don't you let him talk?' Dawn suggested with a note of impatience in her voice. Spike smiled gratefully at the Slayer's sister and turned to the Scoobies.

'Before you scream at me it was the Slayer's idea' he said, 'We talked to a vampire by the name of Jake at the demon bar; he was getting followers for a demon named Kelsa who has some crackpot idea of getting the daughter of a Slayer and something about a prophecy. Anyway he said he'd talk to us again tomorrow, the Slayer went under the cover of being a human I was about to turn so not to bring to much attention to her, anyway this Jake said he wanted proof I'd be back and said that the Slayer should go with him to make sure I met with him tomorrow. I refused, knowing him they'd go to a building full of vamps and try and turn her or drain her, but the Slayer had this stupid idea. We went into a back room and she said she'd go with him and try and find out some more; we agreed on a compromise-'

'I'm not liking the sound of this' Xander said; Spike glared at him.

'Look I didn't send her in defenceless, Whelp! I made sure they couldn't claim her, alright!' he snapped. Giles frowned.

'What do you mean they can't claim her?' he asked; it was Anya who answered.

'Vampires are always trying to claim females, the only way to prevent that is if there is already a claim in place' she answered, then returned to counting the money. Giles looked furious.

'You _claimed_ her?!?' he yelled.

'She agreed to it!' Spike snapped, 'I explained everything to her so it's not as if she didn't know what was happening. It'll wear off eventually if the claim isn't reinstated' he said; Spike was tired of arguing, he'd been doing it all night with Buffy and Jake.

'Would you rather I let her go with just a stake for protection? At least this way _they _can't put any claim on her' he snapped. Xander stood up and punched Spike in the face.

'You claimed Buffy?' he yelled; Tala stood up but Dawn and Willow pulled her back down.

'She's relatively safe is he has' Anya snapped, hands on her hips, 'You know nothing about claims Xander Harris so leave Spike alone and sit down before you make an even bigger fool of yourself. Spike's given Buffy the best form of protection he could without actually turning her and forming a Sire claim or forming a mating claim! No vampire will be able to put a claim or mating claim on her if he claimed her tonight, the claim is too fresh. He's protected your friend in the best way possible; he can tell if she's in trouble and will be able to find her faster than if you used a locating spell now sit down!'

Everyone looked at Anya in awe, she hardly ever raised her voice at anyone, especially Xander; obviously her words had an effect on Xander because he sat back down straight away. Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them in the silence that followed Anya's outburst. The ex-vengeance demon turned to Spike.

'Thank you for helping to protect her Spike' she said, 'If the other's weren't so stupid they'd have said it when you first said it.'

Spike smiled slightly and nodded. Giles rubbed his eyes.

'Is she okay at the moment, Spike?' he asked the vampire, obviously trying his best to be polite. Spike paused and then nodded.

'As far as I can tell' he answered. Giles nodded.

'Did you explain how the claim worked?' he asked. Spike looked at him with a fixed stare.

'If you want to know if I told her how to tell me that she's in danger yes I did' he answered.

'Well at least the bleached wonder did _something_ right' Xander mumbled; Spike sighed, bracing himself for the pain he pulled his arm back and punched Xander in the face. They shared a mutual cry of pain.

'What was that for?!?' Xander demanded; Anya faced him with a sigh.

'You deserved that Xander Harris now sit down and be quiet!' Anya snapped.

'Yes… well… is there anything we were supposed to do in this plan of Buffy's, Spike?' Giles asked the vampire. Spike didn't reply, he seemed to be staring into space. Giles frowned.

'Spike?'

Spike frowned, there was something nagging him and he couldn't think what it was; then he realised what it was. There was a sense of fear creeping into him and he had just worked out where from.

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Buffy was thrown back against the wall and two vamps held her arms, preventing her from being able to get to her stake. She cursed inwardly as Jake walked forwards.

'Did that vampire actually think he could stop us from at least _trying_ to claim you pet?' he mocked; Buffy felt a stab of fear shoot through her, she didn't know why but she hated the way Jake used the pet name.

'His name's Spike' Buffy spat, trying to wrench her arms from the vampires; while she was distracted Jake leapt and pinned her against the wall. Jake smiled maliciously.

'And what would your name be?' he asked, fangs inches from her neck and the marks that Spike had made a few hours previously.

'Go to hell!' Buffy spat, head butting Jake and managing to wrench her grasp from the two vampires and trying to jump onto a pile of boxes. She was grabbed around the waist and pinned down by three vampires; one sat across her waist while the other two pinned her arms and legs; Buffy struggled but she couldn't get free. She saw Jake coming over with a look of pure rage on his face.

'Take her into the back room' he ordered, and then he smirked.

'Let's break her for the vampire.'

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'Spike?'

'Earth to Dead Boy!'

Spike's head snapped up, he saw everyone watching him, 'What?'

'We were asking if we were supposed to be doing anything in Buffy's plan tomorrow' Tara said, looking at him worriedly. Spike shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts.

'Yeah… the Slayer said for you to go to the demon bar, but not together and to act as if you're not with me. If anything happens then we're all there to step in. Dawn and Tala are to stay at the Slayer's house with the Watcher' Spike said; the sense of fear in his mind was growing.

'Well me and Anya can go in and pretend we're looking for one of Anya's old friends' Xander said; the other's nodded.

'Willow and I can just look around, if we're asked what we're doing we can make something up' Tara said; Willow nodded.

'We can say we're looking for a demon for a ritual. We can do a little research tonight and try and find one' Willow said.

'Try a Kurnack demon' Spike said, 'they're usually present in rituals and they're also quite secretive so it's a good cover.'

'We can meet back at Buffy's house afterwards' Giles said; everyone nodded. Spike didn't pay attention because the fear in his mind had been growing and something had just been added to it and he knew from experience what was happening. He whirled round and went into the training room to grab a cross bow and bolts; a few minutes later he had sped past the astonished Scoobies with a cross bow, a quiver of bolts on his back and a couple of stakes in his duster.

'Where's he going?' Xander wondered aloud. Though all of them had an idea where the blonde vampire had just rushed off to; though everyone hoped they were wrong.

'Should we follow him?' Willow asked uncertainly.

'Let's do a location spell so we know where he's going and then we can start heading over there' Giles said going into the training room to find something of Buffy's. The Magic Box was filled with an oppressive silence.

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Buffy was dragged into a back room where she was chained to a wall, remembering stories she'd heard of Angelus' torture sessions didn't really help steady her nerves at that moment, especially since she'd lost her coat as they'd chained her up and therefore lost most of her stakes. She was left alone in the room and the door was closed leaving her in the dark. After a few moments her eyes adjusted but not well enough to see anything; she felt like she was blind and when there were hundreds of vampires nearby that wasn't always a good thing. The door opened and Jake walked in, she could see he was carrying something but the door closed again before she could make out what it was. She heard him put the thing down and heard the scraping of metal on metal and had a horrid feeling she knew exactly what it was he'd been carrying.

'Ready to scream, pet?' Jake sneered; Buffy held her head up and glared at where she could hear him moving.

'Don't call me that!' she snapped, realising that maybe Spike had been right about this plan of hers.

'Well if you won't tell me your name what do I call you? Hmm?' Jake asked as she heard him move closer; she felt something cold press against her skin through her top and unconsciously moved away from it. She heard Jake chuckle.

'Scared are we?' he sneered.

'You wish' Buffy retorted and bit back a scream as she felt the knife cut through her shirt and leave a large cut across her abdomen.

'Ready to scream?' Jake asked her again.

_A/N: Yes I know I'm evil. I'm very very very evil. Hehe. I'm probably going to be killed as well… oh well…_

_Spike: You're not making me run in and safe the day are you? _

_Me: I'm not gonna tell you that, it'd ruin the story!_

_Buffy: Well it is kinda obvious. And why did I have to be the one who got caught by the vamps?_

_Me:… because it's a plot line._

_Buffy and Spike: …_

_Me: Hey! Don't mess with my plot lines they like me and I like them._

_Spike: You're mental._

_Me: Yep! And proud of it!_

_Buffy: Well can we hurry up and get me out of there please? I mean you are ruining one of my tops._

_Me: Well sorry! I can always get you a new one, I am the author you know._

_Buffy: Yeah but that's not the point… the point is you're ruining a perfectly good top. I never thought I'd say this but Spike you better hurry up and save me._

_Spike: I think I've woken up in a parallel universe where the Slayer's gone mad. Did she just tell me to save her?_

_Me: Yeah well while you two lovebirds bicker I'm gonna go write the next chapter_

_Buffy and Spike: We're not lovebirds!_

_Me: I say nothing…_

_Ciao for now!_

_Starsword_


	9. Tourniquet

**_Warning: this chapter contains scenes of semi-glossed over torture and rape. If you don't want to read these scenes skip to the 5th set of 888888888888888888888. _**

**Chapter 9 – Tourniquet**

Spike ran through the streets of Sunnydale, following the sense in his mind that was telling him where Buffy was.

_Thank God we did the claim, _he thought as he left a cemetery and got closer to the outskirts of Sunnydale.

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Buffy was finding it harder and harder to keep from screaming as the knife repeatedly cut her skin and sent rivers of her blood over her body. Jake had succeeded in cutting away most of the legs of her trousers and almost all of her top. She heard him walk back to where he had put the knife down when he first came in and she took a few deep breaths. She knew that now would be the best time to call for help if she was ever going to; not wasting any more time she took a deep breath.

_SPIKE!!_ She screamed in her mind, hoping he was right about the claim. If he wasn't she was probably going to be dead by tomorrow.

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Spike heard Buffy's mental scream and swore loudly, he reached a large abandoned warehouse; he leant against the outside wall and tried to get a clearer sense of where she was. Then he heard the noise coming from inside the building he was leaning against. Pressing his ear to the wall he could hear voices, a lot of them, coming from inside. Going on an instinct, Spike closed his eyes and focused on Buffy, finding his senses pulling him inside the building. Satisfied, he crept silently around the building trying to pinpoint exactly where she was inside. A scream through the wall beside him was enough to tell him exactly where she was.

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'You owe me a scream, luv' Jake said coming closer to Buffy; she couldn't see him but she could feel him. Buffy's body was being held up by the chains, she'd lost so much blood; she felt the knife pressed against her side and the tip of it work it's way to her back. She felt the tip drawing blood from the large cut that was weaving across her back in what, she supposed, Jake would have considered a work of art. The blade reached the base of her neck and she bit her lip to stop from crying out in fear and pain; as she did Buffy felt the knife be taken away and Jake move round to stand in front of her again.

'Still owe me that scream' he hissed menacingly into her ear; Buffy whimpered softly despite her inner Slayer voice screaming at her to stay silent except to give a witty remark. She could feel Jake smile.

'We're getting there I see' he said; he ran the edge of the knife along her body from her shoulder down to her thigh. A sharp intake of breath was the only clue Buffy gave that she was close to screaming just to see if he stopped. If Jake's torture was like this then what could Angelus do? He lightly pressed the knife edge against her inner thigh, making a hair line cut across it, Buffy felt tears welling up at the back of her eyes from the pain but she forced them back, determined not to cry in front of the vampire. Jake snapped the knife back and Buffy heard it land in a different part of the room, hoping that he'd decided to give her a small break she breathed a tiny sigh of relief; it turned into a sharp intake of breath when she felt him press closer against her.

'Seems like I've got only one option left, luv' Jake sneered, Buffy shuddered involuntarily at the use of the nickname.

'You owe me a scream and I promise you, you _will_ scream by the time this night is over' he said, 'And considering that's only a few hours away you haven't got long have you?'

Buffy glared at the vampire, 'There is _nothing_ that you can do that will convince me to scream for you' she snapped; though her voice sounded weak even to her. Jake smiled.

'We'll see about that' he said. Buffy was about to retort when she felt his cold body press against her; a sense of realisation shot through her and she tried to get away from the vampire but the chains, as well as he weakened state and the vampire's iron grip, prevented her from moving very far.

'Get off of me!' Buffy snapped, trying to head butt him, but it was too dark for her to see enough to hit him. All she succeeded in doing was giving Jake the opportunity to seize her hair and pull her head back, exposing her throat to his fangs. Buffy didn't need to be able to see to know that he was in full game face. Before she could think of making another move her body was pressed against the wall behind her; trapped between a hard wall and a vampire Buffy had nowhere to go to escape.

_Where the hell is Spike when I _actually_ need him,_ she thought desperately, wondering what was taking the blond vampire so long to find her; had he actually been serious when he said he'd help her if she needed it? Or would he leave her to be broken by the vampires? He'd done a good job of acting as if he cared about her; maybe he'd tricked her into the claim to give him a way to manipulate her. Her thoughts were interrupted however when she felt Jake pull away the remains of her clothes, leaving her naked body open to the vampire's night vision.

'Looks like there's one thing I haven't done yet, eh pet?' he sneered; a feeling of utter helplessness coursed through Buffy and she gave up trying to escape, knowing there was nothing she could do now that would get her away from here. She screamed when she felt the vampire enter her, and she let the tears fall freely when she felt him start to thrust into her again and again, the rhythm slowly building.

'That's more like it, pet,' Jake sneered, 'Gonna give me another one?'

A strangled sob escaped Buffy's lips as she felt his fangs pierce her neck; a wave of fury coursed through her, though where she got the energy from to feel it she didn't know.

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Spike had found a boarded window near the bottom of the warehouse; taking a look through he saw Buffy and Jake at the opposite end of the room. Untamed fury coursed through him when he saw Jake start to rape the Slayer. Spike grabbed one of the boards and tore it off, throwing it behind him before sliding through the hole he had made and landing silently on the floor of the room.

'That's more like it, pet' he heard Jake say, 'Gonna give me another one?'

Spike heard Buffy's strangled sob and desperation added itself to the fury coursing through him. He switched to game face, took out a knife and walked up behind Jake. As the vampire sank his fangs into Buffy's neck, over his marks of possession Spike grabbed the back of Jake's neck and pulled him away from Buffy. He only gave the vampire enough time to see his face before he put his face a few inches above Jake's.

'I think I told you she was to be _unharmed_,' Spike growled. The terror he smelt wash over the younger vampire made him smirk.

'Or did I not make it clear enough for you?' he asked; he let the vampire fall to the floor before walking over to the door and sliding a bolt across it; locking all three of them inside the room. He saw a light switch next to the door and flipped it; the light bulb in the middle of the room gave off enough light for Buffy to be able to see clearly enough to see Spike standing by the door.

'Spike?'

'I'm here, pet' Spike said soothingly; the added light through her condition into sharp focus and Spike turned back to Jake, fury and hatred written all over his vampiric features.

'What were my _exact_ instructions regarding her?' he snarled, walking slowly towards the younger vampire. Jake started to crawl backwards to the wall.

'You can't do anything to me' he said, using the wall to help him stand up. Spike laughed.

'Are you willing to bet on that? Do you have _any_ idea what it means to be raised from a Fledgling to a Master under Aurelius?' he asked softly. Jake's face was a picture of terror at the name Aurelius.

'Please-'

'Please what? Spare you? I promised you that if you hurt her in any way you wouldn't live to see another night's hunt' Spike hissed, his fury and hatred clear in his voice. He stopped when he was stood a few steps from Jake, cornering the younger vampire.

'And I keep my promises' he said, pulling out a stake and plunging it deep into the vampire's chest.

'Don't forget that' he said as Jake's dust landed in a pile at his feet. He turned from the dust and ran over to Buffy.

'Spike? Why did you take so long to get here?' Buffy asked weakly as Spike took hold of her to keep the weight off of her bound wrists.

'I'm sorry pet; I got here as fast as I could' he said; taking hold of the chains and pulling on them with all of his strength. They flew out of the walls and Spike felt Buffy's body fall into him; he stooped to get a better hold and pulled her up.

'Come on, pet, let's get you out of here' he said softly; he shrugged off his duster and wrapped it around her before picking her up bridal style and heading to the window.

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Spike headed towards his crypt, knowing that if any of the vamps decided to follow him he'd have a better chance to get her out than if he took her to her friends; he also had a vague suspicion that she wouldn't want them to see her like this. Pushing open the door to his crypt he laid her on the sarcophagus and went to close the door; he leapt down into his bedroom and got out his first aid kit. He'd restocked it since Tala had come to live at the crypt, knowing that they'd be using it more. He climbed back up the ladder and placed the first aid kit on the sarcophagus next to Buffy before going to the kitchenette and putting some warm water into a bowl. He got out a cloth and went back over to the immobile body of the Slayer. He unwrapped her from his duster and hissed in anger at the cuts over the front of her body. Wondering whether she was going to stake him for not putting any more clothes on her before attempting to clean her wounds he soaked the cloth and started to clean away the dried blood that had caked itself to her skin. He took out some anti-septic and soaked a pad in it before using it to clean her cuts; the Slayer healing was taking a while to kick in, but some of the more minor cuts were already half closed. Once he'd dressed the larger wounds he carefully turned her over and growled when he saw the pattern that had been carved onto her back. It was obviously the symbol Kelsa had put out for demons to associate with her, and the blood was still seeping out of the cuts. Pushing back his demon, that dearly wanted to taste the blood, he wiped it away, then he cleaned and dressed the cuts. Once he'd finished he carried her down to the lower level of the crypt and placed her on his bed before getting out one of his shirts for her to wear. Once he'd managed to get her into it he pulled the covers over her and went back up the stairs, making sure the trapdoor was covered and locked he went out of the crypt and headed towards the Magic Box to tell the Slayer's friends she was safe.

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Spike walked into the Magic Box through the back door; he didn't really want to confront her friends so, instead, he found some paper and a pen and wrote them a note that he planned to leave for one of them to find in an obvious spot. He had just put it on the table and was about to turn and walk out when Anya walked in.

'Spike?' she asked; he put his finger to his lips.

'Don't feel like a meeting with the Scoobies, no offence' he explained, he handed her the note. Anya nodded in understanding.

'I'll get them to go home, just make sure Buffy's back by tomorrow night at the latest' she said before she turned and walked back into the shop. Spike smiled gratefully at the ex-demon's back before turning and walking back to his crypt.

_A/N: Ok now is the time that I start to grovel and say I am sooo sorry for the long update and I love my reviewers and my readers so much I actually baked so many cakes the shop ran out of flour and butter… so I went and bought some of their cakes… actually I bought all their cakes so you can all have a party and eat as much as you like._

_Spike: Get ready for the excuses…_

_Me: Yeah well it IS AS levels at the moment. You know the things that need you to do a lot of work, plus we've had Pirates of Penzance rehearsals and stuff going on so… yeah it's not my fault. I'm entirely blameless. Blame the school. _

_Buffy: Yeah well I didn't particularly enjoy this chapter… can't imagine why…_

_Me: Yeah well… I felt like torturing someone and it just fit in with the plot line. You'll really like the next chapter (laughs manically)_

_Xander: Yeah now I'M scared._

_Me: Yeah well a rat could scare you if it really tried._

_Xander: Hey, you saying I'm a coward?_

_Me: No I'm saying you're the bravest person in the world._

_Xander: Lay off the sarcasm… sarcasm is the lowest form of wit._

_Me: Yeah well at least I've got some wit then._

_Xander: Hey!_

_Willow: Alright everyone let's just calm down and ask the readers to review to make the author happy so she isn't mean to us._

_Tara: Good idea. So please review cos it'll make Starsword happy and she'll right more and we'll get to see what happens to us._

_So yeah please do as Tara says and review before Xander and Spike drive me nuts… if it wasn't so completely wrong I'd say they fancied each other the amount of fights they get into…. So yeah I'm gonna go before I get killed by a pissed off vampire._

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	10. Safety

**Chapter 10 – Safety**

When Spike got back to the crypt he went straight down to his bedroom; finding Buffy was in exactly the same place as he'd left her when he'd gone to tell her friends that she was safe he went over to the bed; after removing his boots he lay down next to the Slayer and wrapped his arms around her body.

'I'm sorry, pet' he said softly; he closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

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When Buffy woke up the first thing she noticed was that her whole body was aching, some parts of it where still stinging from the knife; she snuggled closer to the lukewarm body next to her, a sense of calm flowing through her. She felt two strong arms tighten their hold around her and sighed. Memories came flooding back, the last thing she could remember was Spike carrying her away from the warehouse; she suddenly realised who it was that was lying next to her. She tensed up for a few seconds and then relaxed again; for some reason, unknown to her, she trusted him. Opening her eyes she blinked a few times to let her vision adjust to the light before she looked up at the vampire next to her. She was met by a pair of blue eyes.

'Mornin' pet' he said, smiling slightly; Buffy closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest.

'Morning'

'You all right?' Spike asked her; Buffy nodded.

'A little sore and stiff but I'll be fine' she replied.

'I'm sorry, pet' Spike said softly after a few moments of silence; Buffy looked at him and frowned slightly as he avoided her gaze.

'What for?' she asked, sitting up slightly.

'I should have got there sooner' Spike said, sitting up and sitting on the edge of the bed, taking a new shirt and a pair of jeans out of a drawer.

'If it wasn't for you I would probably be dead by now' she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

'I shouldn't have let him do that much to you' he said, shrugging her hand off and taking his shirt off to change into the clean one. Buffy felt a wave of guilt and sadness coming from him through the claim; acting on an impulse she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her lips to his neck in a soft kiss.

'It's not your fault, Spike' she said softly into his ear, she felt him shiver, 'You saved my life.'

Spike turned around and captured Buffy's lips with his own; knowing that this could only lead to things that she shouldn't be doing Buffy tried to pull away for a second, but something stopped her; something was telling her that this was what she wanted and that it wasn't wrong. Something was making her acknowledge the feelings she'd buried deep inside her. Spike's hands were moving all over her body; she couldn't remember having felt this loved before, not only from his touch but also by the love that she feeling from him through the claim. Buffy arched into his touch as his hands reached her inner thighs; Spike broke the kiss when breathing became a problem for her.

'Spike…' she said softly, trying to get a coherent sentence out and finding it to be harder than she anticipated.

'God Buffy… want you so much, pet' Spike said in her ear, Buffy shivered as his voice flowed over her; but that voice in the back of her mind was telling her she shouldn't do this, that it would be another Angel episode. She turned her head and closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

'What's wrong, pet?' Spike asked her, trailing a hand down her arm and placing a feather light kiss over his claiming mark.

'I- I can't do this, Spike' Buffy said, realising her voice was cracking, 'Not now.'

She expected him to turn away and get angry with her; instead he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her protectively.

'Don't worry, luv' he said softly; Buffy found the tone of his voice soothing and she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

'I just… not now-'

'I know, pet' Spike cut her off, 'Don't worry, luv, I got you.'

Buffy's eyes closed and she fell asleep, still cradled against the vampire's chest.

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When she woke up for the second time she was still wrapped in Spike's arms.

_He stayed with me the whole time,_ she realised, smiling to herself. She tightened her arms around the vampire, happy for once that she hadn't woken up alone.

'You alright, pet?' Spike asked; Buffy looked up at him and smiled slightly.

'You're here' she said softly; Spike frowned slightly.

'Why wouldn't I be?' he asked; Buffy shrugged and looked back down.

'Just… I always wake up alone' she said, not looking up at the vampire; she felt his arms tighten around her.

'Not with me, luv' he said, bringing up a hand to caress his mark on her neck, 'I promise.'

Buffy was surprised to find tears in her eyes at the statement.

'What time is it?' she asked softly.

'Close to sunset, why?'

'I suppose I'd better get ready to meet the gang; they'll want to know what happened' she answered, sighing and sitting up. She found Spike's grip didn't slacken, making it hard for her to move.

'Not for a while yet' he said, 'You need as much rest as you can get and you know they'll be telling you what a stupid idea it was to go in there alone.'

Buffy sighed knowing he was right; she felt him sit up behind her.

'Why are you so scared, pet?' he asked; Buffy turned to face him, surprise on her face.

'I'm not scared' she said; Spike smirked.

'I know you are, Slayer, I can feel it' he said, fingers brushing over the mark on her neck; she shivered from the light touch and leant into his hand slightly.

'I put my friends and sister in danger through being what I am and I hate it Spike,' she looked away, 'I hate the fact that I might not be able to protect them.'

'You don't have to protect them, pet; just you being who you are helps protect them. Most demons won't go near your mates cos of who you are, only the really dumb or really clever ones will go after them' he told her, turning her head to look in her eyes.

'They can protect themselves most of the time, Slayer, don't forget that' he said. Buffy smiled slightly.

'Spike?'

'Yeah, pet?'

'Don't call me that.'

Spike frowned, 'Call you what?'

'Slayer' she answered, Spike cocked an eyebrow.

'I just- it makes this sound wrong' Buffy said, sitting up and looking away. Spike's hand trailed down her arm.

'Makes what sound wrong, pet?'

'This, what we're doing' Buffy said, 'You're a vampire, I'm the Slayer; we're not supposed to be doing this, we're supposed to be killing each other.'

A hint of nervousness and desperation coursed through Buffy when she said that; it took her a few minutes to work out it was coming from Spike. She turned and placed a hand on his cheek.

'I don't want this to sound wrong, Spike, I want-' she stopped, what did she want?

She looked into Spike's blue eyes and sighed slightly.

'I don't want this to sound wrong because I'm not entirely sure _what_ I want at the moment, and I want to be able to make some decisions without people telling me I'm making the wrong ones or having them sound wrong.'

Spike smiled at her, 'I know what you're saying pet,' he said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

'Just- can you hold me for a while?' Buffy asked quietly, Spike was amazed how small and fragile she looked right then.

'Course pet' he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning back on the bed, taking her down with him. Buffy sighed, content just to lie in the vampire's arms until she had to go out and face the world that said that the feeling of safety and love she felt with him was wrong.

_A/N: Well there you go one more chapter. Sorry about the delay, things have been a bit hectic lately. Thank you to Indigo Moon Star my lovely dedicated reviewer; I made you a special Christmas themed cake… hmm… so that's what vampires look like if they wear a Santa's hat…._

_Anyway, thank you to my lovely readers and please please PLEASE review. PLEASE._

_Spike: Talk about bloody begging._

_Me: Hey I like reviews! Leave me alone!_

_Xander: Did we really need this chapter I mean like this would ever happen._

_Me (muttering): That's why Buffy's staying silent is it?_

_Xander: What?_

_Me (sweetly innocent voice): Nothing!_

_Anyway yes… thanks again to Indigo Moon Star and all my readers!_

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	11. Scoobie Meeting

**Chapter 11 – Scoobie Meeting**

Buffy woke again about an hour later; she looked to her side and frowned when she found no sign of the vampire who should have been there, she was surprised to find tears in her eyes when she realised he'd left her. Getting annoyed at herself she reached up to brush them away, but another hand got there first.

'Looking for me, pet?' Spike asked, Buffy turned over and saw him leaning over from her side of the bed; his hair was wet and he was just wearing a towel, she blushed as she realised he'd obviously just had a shower.

'Spike… do you think you could-?'

Spike chuckled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, 'Do you want a shower, pet? Tala stopped by later with the Nibblet, they brought some clothes for you; they assumed you wouldn't want to wear the ones you were wearing last night.'

'Is there anything left of them?' Buffy asked, sitting up and stretching. Spike looked away; Buffy placed a hand on his cheek.

'Spike, I've told you I don't blame you for anything that happened. I was lucky you made me agree to that protection claim otherwise I'd be _dead_ right now.'

Spike looked back at her and smiled slightly, 'Still doesn't mean I don't feel guilty about letting him get that far before I found you.'

Buffy put her feet on the cold floor of the crypt and tried to stand up, unfortunately it seemed as if Slayer healing hadn't finished it's work and she stumbled; Spike caught her round the waist and steadied her.

'You okay, pet?'

Buffy nodded, 'Just a little shaky; where's the shower?'

Spike led her to the shower, keeping an eye on her incase she stumbled again; but Buffy managed to get to the shower with little trouble and Spike switched on the water. It wasn't a shower as such, more like a pipe with water that flowed out; it seemed to get hot water from somewhere though because the water was relatively warm when Spike switched it on.

'It'll be warm already cos I already used it,' Spike explained, 'I'll leave some towels for you out here; your clothes are on the bed. I'll be upstairs when you need me.'

'Thanks, Spike' Buffy said, smiling at him; he returned the smile and then turned and climbed back upstairs.

& & & & & & & & & &

Ten minutes later and Buffy climbed up the ladder to the top floor of Spike's crypt; she was greeted by something flying into her and wrapping arms around her waist once she'd taken a few steps away from the trapdoor.

'Oh my god, Buffy, I was so worried!' Dawn said, hugging her sister tighter.

'I'm fine, Dawn, honestly,' Buffy gasped, 'But you know, less of the suffocating would make me even more fine.'

Dawn loosened her grip on Buffy, 'Sorry…'

Buffy smiled, 'It's alright, you okay?'

Dawn rolled her eyes, 'I'm fine. The mint choc chip ice cream did nothing evil, I promise.'

'Well I don't know,' Tala said from the sarcophagus, 'The amount we ate I'm surprised we don't look like beached whales at the moment.'

Buffy rolled her eyes, 'And you thought _I_ was in trouble?'

Dawn rolled her eyes, 'Oh come on, you were in so much more trouble than I'll ever be with ice cream.'

'Hey at least I can blame my calling,' Buffy replied.

'Yeah so can I. That ice cream was calling to us,' Dawn retorted.

'She's right you know, it had a really airy voice that put you in a trance until you'd eaten all of it,' Tala said. Buffy rolled her eyes.

'You know I'm sure I begged Mom for a brother.'

'Apparently it was a sister,' Dawn retorted as she led Buffy to the sofas. Spike came over with two mugs of hot chocolate.

'Feel any better?' he asked as he gave one of the mugs to Buffy and the other to Dawn.

'Tons, it's actually quite surprising what healing properties a shower possesses,' Buffy replied; Dawn and Tala exchanged a look and both girls snorted. Buffy looked at her sister with raise eyebrows.

'Is there something I'm missing?' Buffy asked her, Dawn put on her best innocent face.

'Nope,' she replied, though it was obvious she was trying to hide back a smile.

'I don't think I want to know, do I?' Buffy asked. Dawn was about to reply when Tala spoke.

'Maybe later, it's fun watching everyone get so confused over something that's so obvious,' she said to Dawn. Dawn grinned.

'I think you're right; I can't wait to see what happens when-oh…' Dawn broke off and stood up quickly.

'We'll see you later, we've err… I've got to go through some school stuff with Tala,' she said, grabbing Tala's hand and dragging her out of the crypt. Buffy looked at the closed door with raised eyebrows.

'Did I miss something?' she asked; Spike sighed.

'If you did then so did I. I've had to put up with those two giggling their heads off every time I ask,' he answered, 'It's enough to drive a guy mad. If this damn chip wasn't in my head I'd have drained 'em to get some bloody peace round here.'

'No you wouldn't' Buffy said, Spike looked at her.

'Yes I would.'

'Wouldn't.'

'Wou- Oh no we're not getting into one of these arguments,' he said, turning back to the kitchenette and putting his mug in the sink. Buffy grinned.

'You wouldn't though… drain them dry I mean,' she said. Spike shrugged.

'Yeah well… they're exceptions,' he muttered; Buffy tried not to smile, and wondered how far she could push him before he got annoyed.

'Any other exceptions?' she asked; Spike raised a scarred eyebrow.

'What you getting at Slayer?' he asked her, Buffy put on an innocent face.

'Nothing,' she answered, standing up and walking round the chair as Spike started to walk towards her. The two of them stood either side of the chair, waiting for the other to make the first move. Buffy ran round the side, aiming for the sarcophagus and Spike reached out an arm, wrapping it round her waist and pulling her against him, sending them both flying to the floor. For a few moments they stayed where they'd landed, Spike's arm wrapped around her waist holding her where she'd fallen on top of him.

'Spike?'

'Yeah, pet?'

'I don't think I ever thanked you for saving me.'

Spike looked at her, 'You did, pet.'

Buffy leant down and placed a kiss on his lips; it was soft and gentle, and Spike realised with a start that she was also using the claim in the kiss. They broke apart and Spike looked at her with wonder in his eyes.

'How did you-?'

Buffy smiled at him before placing another kiss on his lips, telling him with the claim what she felt even if she didn't know what it was herself. It took a few moments for Spike to take in what he was feeling, and when he did he knew he was going to let Buffy come to him in her own time, he wasn't going to push her into anything if she wasn't ready for it. Spike sent her his feelings, telling her how much he really loved her the same way she'd been telling him what she felt in her life. Riley had come back a few weeks ago, soon after they'd driven Sweet out of town, saying his government mission had been completed and he was free to stay here until he was needed again; he and Buffy had started their relationship again but Buffy knew it was different to before. Now Spike knew too. When they broke apart Buffy was lying on her back, Spike half on top of her, his hand caressing her hair. They stood up, getting their jackets, finding any reason to touch as they did so. Buffy knew she was drawn to Spike, and now that the claim was in place she knew it was going to be easier to make her decision.

Riley had returned, and the Initiative with him, however now the Initiative only studied the demons, whether they released the ones they captured or not the Scoobies didn't know. Their new leader had taken on Maggie Walsh's name, obviously to hide their identity, and the Scoobies were working to find out who it was. Riley had little connections with the Initiative, only lending a hand now and again and had never met the new leader, only spoken to them on the phone. What he could tell them was that it was a man this time.

'We should get to the Magic Box,' Buffy said, 'The others will be waiting.'

Spike nodded, 'Let's go, pet.'

& & & & & & & &

Spike and Buffy walked through the door of the Magic Box ten minutes later, where they were greeted by Tala and Dawn.

'Well look who finally decided to show up,' Dawn said, Buffy rolled her eyes.

'Dawnie, do me a favour and shut up,' Buffy retorted, she sighed inwardly as she saw who was sat at the table.

'Hey, you okay?' Riley asked, standing up and bringing Buffy into a hug. Buffy put a smile on her face to keep questions from arriving.

'I'm fine, honestly,' she replied, 'And before anyone says anything I realise it was a dumb idea, no lectures please.'

'Buffy, it was more than dumb-' Giles started.

'Giles please, I'm still tired and I _really_ don't want any lectures right now. I'm out, I'm safe let's just talk about what we found out, including the fact we have a factory full of vampires we _really_ shouldn't leave unattended,' Buffy said.

'Let me get the Initiative on it, I can tell them where it is and let you-'

'No' Buffy said, firmly, 'I now you say they've changed, Riley, but I don't trust the Initiative as far as Dawn could throw them.'

'Hey!' Dawn said indignantly.

'I don't want them to get involved with anything we do; last time they tried to kill us, this time we're not giving them any chances.'

Riley sighed, 'I just wanted to give you this one off, let someone else do it so you can get your strength back.'

'If I did that every time I got injured you might as well give the Slayer powers to someone else,' Buffy said, 'I'm the Slayer I have to do this, it's my destiny.'

'I'm just saying that you could give this one over to someone else, you went through a lot last night,' Riley said, Buffy looked at him.

'How do you know what happened last night?' she asked him, Riley looked taken aback.

'Well I just thought, seeing as you didn't come home I thought you were badly injured; I mean it's not as if you'd spend the night at Spike's crypt if you had a choice,' he replied; Willow was the only one that noticed Buffy's slightly defensive look.

'That's beside the point, Riley, sometimes I get injured and it's too far to get home so I go somewhere to heal a bit before I head home. Spike let me stay at his crypt because it was closer and it was almost morning anyway. I was tired and didn't want to go far; I'm fine. We'll meet up tomorrow and then deal with the factory problem tomorrow night,' Buffy said; Xander frowned.

'You feeling alright, Buffy? You seem a bit off,' he said; Willow watched her friend closely.

'I'm fine, I'm still a little tired,' Buffy said, sitting down so she didn't have to look her friend in the eye; the truth was she didn't want to have to face any accusations about why she'd spent all night and day at Spike's crypt and have them asking questions about what had happened the night before.

'Maybe you should head home, Buffy,' Willow suggested, 'I'll come with you, there's some stuff I want to do back at the house anyway.'

Buffy nodded and smiled gratefully.

'Thanks, Will,' she said, standing up, 'I'll see you guys tomorrow. You coming now, Dawnie, or do you want to stay for a bit longer?'

'Can I stay here for a bit?' Dawn asked, hopefully. Buffy nodded.

'Alright, just call me when you're starting back and I'll meet you half way.'

'We can walk her back,' Spike said, 'Me and Tala.'

Buffy nodded gratefully, 'Thanks. See you in a bit Dawnie. Bye guys.'

Buffy, Willow, and Tara headed out of the Magic Box and started the walk back to the Summer's house.

_A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I've got loads of work to do and it seems I never have any time to write anymore . I'm writing most of my fics in my free periods at school so bear with me and I'll try and write a little faster, truth be told I've had a slight writers block on this for a few days. I've got a few chapters planned out… not all in chronological order but I can think of something to fill in the gaps._

_Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, I love you to bits! Have special 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' cupcakes on me! To all my lovely readers I give you special cookies, take your favourite character!_

_Spike: Why do you make those cookies? They're weird…_

_Me: I like making them! And plus it means the reviewers and readers know how much I love them._

_Spike: Yeah but you almost burn the kitchen down making them!_

_Me: No I don't… Willow saves the kitchen before I do… and the cookies and cakes are still fine when they come out!_

_Xander: Yeah but they're only in for a few minutes 'cos you burn 'em._

_Me: Leave me alone…_

_Willow: Come on guys… she doesn't burn it down it's you two that do that… you try and 'help' and end up burning down the kitchen and me and Tara end up rebuilding the kitchen and stopping the fire._

_Spike and Xander: Yeah well…_

_Anyway…thanks again to everyone for being so patient with me._

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword _


	12. Daughter Of Aurelius

**Chapter 12 – Daughter Of Aurelius **

As they walked away from the Magic Box Buffy breathed a sigh of relief.

'Buffy, are you okay?' Willow asked, 'You've been… different today… and this is really not coming out the way I wanted it to.'

Buffy smiled at her best friend, 'It's just, things have been different since-'

'Buffy!'

Buffy sighed inwardly and turned to face Riley as he ran up to them, placing a smile on her face.

'Buffy, I need to talk to you,' Riley said, Willow nodded.

'We'll wait for you at the corner,' Tara told her and she and Willow walked down the street to give the two a little privacy.

'Buffy I'm really worried about you, you've seemed a little off today and-' Riley broke off and Buffy realised he was staring at something on her neck.

'Riley I'm fine honestly… what's wrong? What are you staring at? Have I got something on my face?' she asked, feeling a little uneasy as Riley continued to stare at her.

'Your neck,' Riley said, voice deadly calm, 'You've got something on your neck, Buffy. You've been bitten.'

Panic surged through Buffy as she realised what it was Riley was looking at. Spike's protection claim marks.

'Riley I can explain,' Buffy said, placing a hand on his arm, 'We talked before I went into the warehouse and Spike-'

'Spike bit you!' Riley yelled, and before Buffy could stop him he'd turned and was running towards the Magic Box.

'Riley stop!' Buffy yelled, she ran after him, cursing her big mouth.

& & & & & & &

Tala laughed as Dawn finished her story.

'People really do that at this school?' Tala asked, 'And I thought my old school was screwed up.'

'You're really coming to school with me?' Dawn asked, still unable to believe it. Tala grinned.

'For once I actually _want_ to go to school,' Tala said, Dawn snorted.

'You're mad,' she said; Spike snorted.

'You've only just realised this?' he asked.

'If _I'm_ mad it's only because _you're_ the one who raised me,' she retorted. Spike rolled his eyes.

'Dru was the one who was mad, not me,' he said; Dawn nodded.

'That's true,' she said, Tala rolled her eyes and smiled.

'So anyway you were telling me about this guy on the football team,' Tala said; Dawn nodded and starting talking about said boy. Spike shook his head.

'How can they talk so much about one guy?' Xander asked no one in particular.

'Well if he's good at giving orgasms then there's plenty to talk about,' Anya stated, in a very matter of fact voice. Xander and Spike both choked at that.

'Yes, well, maybe in a few years,' Xander said, turning back to the books that lay on the table.

'You're absolutely sure these all have to go back on the shelf?' he asked Giles; the Watcher sighed.

'For the tenth time, Xander, yes I'm sure they have to go back on the shelf,' he replied. Just then the door of the Magic Box flew open and a very pissed off Riley walked through the door.

'Riley, what-' Giles never finished his question as Riley ran at Spike and pinned him against a wall, a stake poised above his heart.

'What the hell-'

'You bit her you bastard!' Riley yelled.

'Riley! Stop!'

Buffy ran into the shop, Willow and Tara stood in the doorway taking in the scene before them. Xander had a pile of books in his hands and was staring in surprise at Riley holding Spike against a wall, a stake positioned over his heart. Anya was hurrying around the counter and Giles had a very similar expression on his face to Xander's. Dawn and Tala had jumped to their feet and were looking between Riley and Spike, and Buffy was stood a few feet behind Riley. The shop was eerily quiet.

'Riley it was a protection claim in case anything went wrong in the warehouse,' Buffy said, frustration evident in her voice, 'if we hadn't done it I would be _dead_ now.'

A small ball suddenly flew at the stake in Riley's hand, knocking it to the floor a few fet away. Anya looked up at Tala.

'If that's broken-'

'I'll pay for it,' Tala finished for her. Riley glared at her.

'You walk a fine line, girl,' he told her, 'You better decide whose side your on. The demons or the humans.'

Tala looked at him steadily then spoke, in a shaky voice, 'There will come a time when demons will rule and humans will be nothing but vermin. The time of the demons is coming, humans have ruled this dimension for millennia. They will come in numbers greater than anything you can imagine and they will feast until the sun, moon and stars have turned as red as the land.'

Dawn shivered behind the black haired girl, the words from the dream ringing fresh in her mind.

'That will never happen,' Riley said, his grip on Spike relaxing fractionally, 'The Initiative will never let that happen. We're controlling demons for our own army. They _cannot_ turn against us.'

The silence was deafening.

'You _are_ a part of the Initiative,' Buffy said, tone cold; Riley turned to face her, releasing Spike.

'It was the only way to come back here, Buffy, to come back to _you_,' he told her.

'You left _me_, Riley,' she told him, 'Because you couldn't cope with me being the Slayer.'

'Join us,' he said, Buffy stared at him.

'What?'

'Join us, fight the demons alongside us,' he repeated.

'No.'

'What?'

'No,' Buffy said, eyes hard and tone cold, 'They tried to kill me last time.'

'But we're different now, Buffy, I won't let anyone hurt you,' Riley told her, eyes pleading. Buffy couldn't believe what he was asking her.

'The Slayer fights by herself, no one _can_ help her,' Tala said; Riley turned to sneer at her.

'What would you know about it?' he spat.

'A damn sight more than you do,' she retorted, 'I've been raised by a vampire that's killed two Slayers in under a century. Dru killed a Slayer as well, right here in Sunnydale. I know more about Slayer than you do.'

'You know about killing them,' he spat, 'You're as bad as the demon _scum_ that walk this Earth.'

Dawn yelled in outrage, moving forwards to stand next to Tala, Spike growled threateningly behind him.

'_Exactly_,' Tala said, 'So I know that Buffy's one of a kind, no one fights with a Slayer. Face it _Riley_. The Initiative can't help her and neither can _you_ if you insist on her joining the Initiative. You disrupt the balance.Into every generation a Slayer is born, one girl to fight the vampires. Emphasis on the _One_.'

Buffy had to hold back a smile as the 15 year old held her own against Riley.

'You better shut up before I order for you're capture,' he snarled, 'You were raised by vampires, you're as bad as the _scum_ we put in the Initiative caves. You can _never_ be with humans.'

The roar of anger that came from Spike at that was enough to shake everyone to their cores; he stood between Riley and Tala, fury written all over his game face.

'Touch her and I'll tear you to pieces, chip or not,' he snarled.

'You can't fight me, vampire,' Riley said. Spike's yellow eyes narrowed.

'I can, it'll just be more painful than normal,' he growled, 'You'll only get her when my _dust_ is flying in the wind.'

'That can be arranged,' Riley snarled. Dawn moved to stand slightly in front of her new best friend.

'You'll have to get through me first,' she said, 'You want to put her in the Initiative? Fine but you'll have to put me there to.'

'You'll have to get through me before you even _touch_ Dawnie,' Willow said, coming into the store, eyes blazing. Spike took a moment to feel gratitude towards them for standing up for Tala.

'And- and me,' Tara said, standing next to Willow.

'You'll get through all of us before you touch Tala or Spike, Finn,' Buffy said from behind Riley. Riley turned to face Buffy, hurt written all over his face.

'Buffy… what-'

'I don't recognise you anymore, Riley, you're not the same man that waked out of my life a few months ago,' Buffy told him.

'Get out.'

Everyone turned to look at Giles; his gaze was hardened at Riley. Riley lifted his head a little in defiance.

'You're right, Finn,' Tala said, everyone turned to look at her.

'Slayers, Watchers, humans are all my enemies, have been since I was four years old. Hell my _parents_ were my enemies, my Dad tried to kill me. You're right, I should be in the Initiative base,' she paused for a few minutes as she fumbled with the clasp of her necklace, 'You want proof there it is.'

She held up the necklace, the pendant reflected the light showing a dark red gem held in place by silver thorns entwined in an unusual pattern around the stone.

'The pendant of Aurelius, passed down his line outside of his cult, only those sired by his line were ever allowed the pendant. Drusilla gave it to me when she and Spike came here to the Hellmouth. I belong to the world of the so called demon 'scum' that you are so bent on destroying. I am a daughter of Aurelius.'

Tala turned and walked out the shop before anyone could say anything else.

'Get out!' Buffy yelled at Riley. He stood frozen to the spot, glaring at everyone in turn. As he turned he felt a fist connect with his nose and he and his attacker shared a mutual cry of pain. Spike held his head where the chip had fired as Riley took out another stake. It was Xander who reached the boy first and grabbed his wrist.

'Get out of here, Riley,' he said, pushing the stake away from the vampire. Riley gave the occupants of the room one last glare before he turned and walked out of the shop, slamming the door behind him.

'Thanks, Xander,' Spike said; Xander waved it off.

'Don't _ever_ mention it, Spike,' he said.

'We'd better look for Tala,' Spike said, 'I don't want her out there alone at the moment.'

'Okay, here's the plan. Dawn you stay here with Anya, Xander and Giles in case Tala comes back here,' Buffy said, 'The rest of us will go out and do a sweep of Sunnydale.'

Everyone nodded their agreement and the group of four walked out of the shop and went in search of the girl who they'd all come to like in such a short space of time.

& & & & & &

Tala sat on the tombstone staring down at the pendant and chain in her hands; she felt a tear roll down her cheek as she remembered when Drusilla had given it to her.

_Drusilla danced around them as Spike gave Tala a hug._

'_You take of yourself, Tala, anything happens just call us, okay?' he told her, Tala rolled her eyes._

'_I can take care of myself, Spike,' Tala said, though she couldn't keep the tears out of her voice._

'_We shouldn't be too long, pet, it's just one more Slayer after all,' he said, winking at her; Tala smiled and laughed._

'_Give her a punch from me,' she said. Spike nodded and laughed, placing a kiss on her forehead._

'_We'll be back for you soon, pet, I promise,' he told her. They pulled away and Drusilla swept Tala up into her arms. The vampires always managed to surprise the girl with her strength._

'_Be a good girl for Mummy,' Drusilla sang as she spun them round; when she finally put Tala down she pressed something into her hand._

'_Mummy's little girl needs the family's pendant. Always be Mummy's daughter, always be our shining girl in the dark. Never take it off,' Drusilla told her, saner than normal for a few moments. _

Tala's only friend at the school, Abby, had helped her research the pendant and they'd found out that it had belonged to Aurelius. They hadn't been able to find out much more than what she'd told Riley, the computers at the school not allowing them to read much more. Tala had shared everything with Abby, a girl who had just taken to the Wiccan path. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't hear the vampires until one wrapped their hand around her neck. Kicking out instinctively Tala was able to squirm out of the vampire's grip. In a practised movement the pendant was back around her neck and she was in a fighting stance. Therein lay her second mistake, she hadn't checked behind her and she was grabbed by another vampire. No matter how much she struggled Tala wasn't as strong as a vampire, and so couldn't break it's grip. She felt cool breath against her throat before a wave of cold air swept across her back and she fell to the ground, vampire dust settling around her. She looked up and saw a man standing between her and the vampires; she couldn't see his face, all she could see was the black clothes he wore and his short black hair. The only other feature she could make out was that he was well built. In a few minutes the last three vampires were dust to the wind and Tala finally saw the face of her rescuer.

'Thanks,' she said, accepting the offered hand, 'I was lost in my own thoughts.'

The man smiled, brown eyes holding a sadness that Tala felt grip her. 'I suggest not to get lost in your thoughts alone and especially in a cemetery in Sunnydale.'

Tala nodded, an embarrassed smile on her face, 'Yeah, I know, this being the Hellmouth and all.'

The stranger's eyebrows shot up, 'How do you know this is the Hellmouth?'

Tala shrugged, 'My upbringing means I know this stuff. It also means I know you're a vampire.'

She held a stake to the man's chest before he could register what she'd said, hands raised in surrender he backed away.

'Hey, put it away, I won't hurt you. Vampire's honour,' he said. Tala nodded, satisfied and lowered the stake, put didn't put it away.

'What's your name?' the stranger asked.

'Tala!' Tala turned at the sound of Spike's voice. Spike, Buffy, Willow and Tara stopped when they reached the pair and froze at the sight of the stranger.

'_Angel?_' Buffy asked; the stranger smiled.

'Hello, Buffy,' he replied.

_A/N: Hello! It's an update! I know, I know, don't collapse from shock please. I do really like you all too much for that._

_A special thank you goes to all my reviewers and especially An Indigo Moon who has managed to review on almost ever chapter, and also to Imperial Princess. I baked special cakes for the both of you, and to the rest of reviewers I baked you cupcakes with all your favourite characters on them. To all my readers… yep you guessed it it's the homemade character cookies. _

_Thank you again to everyone, I'm back onto my chapter plan now so I should have some more updates coming up soon._

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword_


	13. Angel Investigations

**Chapter 13 – Angel Investigations**

Spike was the first to react; he pushed Tala behind him and faced his Grandsire.

'Stay away from her,' he snarled, Angel looked slightly taken aback.

'I haven't done anything to her, _Spike,_ I _saved_ her in case you hadn't noticed. Why are you so worried anyway?' Angel demanded. Spike smirked.

'Dru never told you, did she Angelus?' Spike asked, Angel growled slightly at the use of the name.

'Tell me _what_, Spike?' Angel demanded; Spike laughed slightly.

'Dru never told her Daddy about her shining girl? She's the girl we adopted, Angelus, me and Dru. No matter what I have to do you're _not_ getting your hands on her,' he said, glaring at the older vampire. Shock registered on Angel's face.

'You and Dru… but… when?' he managed to get out.

'None of your business, mate,' Spike replied, shortly.

'It is if she's family, Spike, I'm still head of the Aurelian Clan,' Angel said; Spike's eyes narrowed.

'Bugger off, Peaches, I'm not letting you 'welcome' her into the fold. Not like you did with me,' he snarled. Angel snorted.

'Like I would, _William_, you're forgetting you're place m'boy,' he said.

'Is that a challenge, _Angelus_?' Spike snarled, slipping into game face; Angel copied him.

'Only if you're challenging _me, _boy,' he replied. Spike was about to leap at Angel when Buffy's voice stopped both vampires.

'Enough! Both of you are acting like 5 year olds!' she said, frustration evident in her voice. Both vampires slipped back out of game face but kept a wary eye on the other. Then Angel froze.

'Buffy what's that on your neck?' Angel asked, Buffy groaned.

'Not _again_,' she muttered, Willow choked back a giggle. Angel turned his furious gaze to Spike.

'You _bit_ her!' he demanded.

'Is anyone going to ask me _why_ they're there and stop trying to kill Spike?' Buffy demanded, Willow giggled behind her and smiled apologetically when Buffy sent her a withering look.

'Not helping, Will,' she said.

'Sorry, but it _is_ getting a little funny,' she replied.

'Is anyone going to explain so I can use my throat again?' Spike choked out from Angel's death grip on his throat.

'I prefer you when you're silent,' Angel retorted.

'Go to hell, Angelus,' Spike spat before Angel's grip got so tight he couldn't speak.

'Already have, Spike,' Angel growled. Suddenly he found a sharp object being placed between his shoulder blades. Buffy sighed in irritation.

'Can we _please_ stop trying to kill each other for two minutes?' she asked; Tala removed the stake from Angel's back when he let go of Spike. Spike took a few steps back, massaging his throat.

'Look, the marks are there because Spike did a protection claim on me. Long story short, I was stupid and now I'm not dead. End of,' Buffy told Angel, 'Secondly, what are you doing here, and what do you want?'

Angel looked a little hurt for a few moments before he wiped the expression from his face.

'The whole team's here,' he explained, 'Someone contacted us a few days ago giving us some information on a demon named Kelsa; apparently she's in Sunnydale looking for the daughter of a Slayer and Watcher.'

Silence followed this statement.

'She's what?' Spike asked.

'She's looking for the daughter of a Slayer and Watcher,' Angel repeated, rolling his eyes at his Grandchilde.

'Look, let's all get back to the Magic Box and then we can go back to mine and talk this through properly. Angel who exactly is here with you?' she asked him.

'Lorne, Fred, Connor, Wesley, Gunn, and Cordy,' Angel replied.

'_Cordelia's_ here?' Willow asked, 'Oh this should be interesting. Let's see how Anya takes this.'

'Right, Angel get the rest of your team to meet us at my house, we're going to the Magic Box to pick up Giles, Dawn, Anya, and Xander and then we'll head to mine. I _really_ don't want to discuss new demon threats in a cemetery. Especially since the Initiative are back,' Buffy said; the others nodded agreement.

& & & & & & & &

An hour later and Buffy's living room was crowded with people; all of Angel Investigations and the Scoobies were sat wherever there was room, and there wasn't much left.

'So what exactly did this person tell you about Kelsa?' Buffy asked. Fred started to speak.

'Well we weren't told much, we started research as soon as we were called and managed to dig up some stuff. We thought you'd got a new Watcher because… well no offence Giles but we couldn't really see-'

'Yes I think we can all imagine what you're about to say,' Giles said, Fred smiled apologetically.

'Yes because Giles giving Buffy orgasms would just-'

'Anya!' Xander said, clamping a hand over his fiancée's mouth 'Please stop there.'

'Yes, please stop,' Giles said, starting to clean his glasses vigorously.

'Anyway we thought Buffy had had a daughter,' Fred continued, obviously trying not to think about what Anya had almost said, 'So we researched Kelsa and then came down to offer what help we could. We didn't know if you knew anything about Kelsa so we thought it would be better if we could give you some information about her as well. Plus some of us wanted to help look after the baby.'

Buffy raised her eyebrows, 'Okay firstly, thanks for the thought but I don't have a kid and I'm not pregnant either.'

A silence filled the room.

'Then who-?' Willow asked.

'Faith, maybe?' Tara suggested.

'It s'not a baby you're looking for,' Spike said; everyone turned to look at him, he was rubbing his forehead with one hand.

'Spike, what-'

He turned to face Tala, 'I'm sorry, Minion.'

'What… I don't get it, my Mum couldn't have been a Slayer she didn't have any powers. She wouldn't have wasted away if she had,' Tala said. Spike shook his head.

'Remember the day your- the day you came to live with us?' Spike asked, Tala nodded, 'And you're Mum told me something? I told you she was telling me-'

'To protect me, yeah I know' Tala said, 'What's this got to do with-'

'She was a Slayer, pet,' Spike sighed, 'She told me she had her powers stripped from her and that she and your Dad had made a deal with Kelsa to get their powers back. That's why she's after you, Tala, you're Mum was a Slayer and you're Dad was her Watcher.'

Shock filled the room.

'Why didn't you tell me before?' she asked; Spike looked at the ground.

'She didn't want you to know,' Spike replied, 'Kelsa wants you to return her powers to her. I don't know how, that's all you're Mum was able to tell me before she died.'

You could have cut the silence in the room with a knife.

'Did Dru know?' Tala asked. Spike shook his head.

'I didn't tell her, but I think she guessed there was something 'bout you that made you her 'shining girl'. I think she knew before your Mum ever told me anything,' he replied; Tala nodded.

'She would,' she said; the emotions playing inside her didn't show on her face. Eventually Giles found his voice.

'Tala, I hate to ask but, do you know what you're father's name was?' he asked her; Tala nodded.

'Charles Winters,' she replied.

'Oh dear,' Giles said, everyone turned to face the Watcher.

'Isn't he-' Wesley started.

'The one who made the deal with the demon to restore his Slayer's powers?' Giles suggested, 'Yes, I didn't make the connection before because, obviously; I didn't think he was a Watcher. I can't remember everything about it but I do remember that, as a way to find Kelsa, he travelled to an unknown Hell dimension. When he came back he had lost his mind, but he was still sane enough that the Watcher's Council let his wife, who was also his Slayer, to take care of him. Her powers passed down to the next Slayer and the Watcher's Council left them alone. Nothing was known of them having children.'

'The Council left my parents alone and didn't think to check on them?!?' Tala demanded, 'When my mother was wasting away and my father was insane?'

'Obviously few people agreed with the way the Council handled it but, at the time, power was trading hands and, in the aftermath of all the shifting of seats, the case was left unfinished. I'm sure there's more in the Watcher's Diaries we could research,' Giles replied. Cordelia groaned.

'This is too much to take in,' she said, hand massaging her temple, 'First Buffy's not the Slayer we're looking for; now we discover Tala is and no one even knows she exists 'cos Spike and Dru have been dragging her round the world. Is _any_ of the stuff we researched any use?'

Fred nodded, 'Of course it is. We researched the demon not the girl that Kelsa wanted.'

'Alright, let's just calm down,' Angel said.

'That's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say,' Spike muttered.

'Shut up, Spike,' Angel snapped.

'And that's the smartest I've heard you say,' Xander said; Angel groaned.

'Look, arguing isn't going to get us anywhere,' Buffy snapped, 'What we need is to look through the information that Fred has, then we can see if we need to look down any particular paths after that. We also need to research Tala's parents, but before we do any of that we need to get some sleep. Spike, Tala, you two had better stay here tonight just incase this Kelsa decides to show up tonight, for all we know she could be keeping tabs on us. Angel, you and the others had better stay here too; now we just need to sort out where everyone's sleeping.'

'Tala can stay in my room,' Dawn said, Tala smiled at her friend. Buffy nodded.

'Alright, and Fred, Cordy? You two can stay in my room,' she said.

'Wesley, I think you'd better come to mine where we can access some Watcher journals,' Giles said, Wesley nodded in agreement.

'Me 'n Peaches are in the basement then I take it?' Spike asked, 'Seeing as it's the easiest place to keep the sun out of.'

'Great, a room with Captain Peroxide,' Angel muttered; Buffy rolled her eyes.

'Lorne, Gunn, Connor are you lot okay in the spare room?' Buffy asked, 'We can set up another mattress on the floor for one of you.'

'That'll be fine, Buffy,' Lorne nodded.

'Alright then, let's get sorted,' Tara said, standing up to help Buffy sort out extra sleeping equipment for everyone.

_A/N: Yay another update! I'm getting as many updates finished on the last day of the holidays as possible. At the moment I've got two… yay go me! Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, more interactions between the Scoobies and AI coming up in the next chapter. As a warning Connor may be younger than he is in the Angel series, solely for the purpose of this plot line, if he is it's only a few months, at most a year, younger than he is in the series. Please don't shoot me. _

_A BIG thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, I've made big cakes for al of you and… yes my cooking skills are improving… I'm making them in the shapes of you're favourite characters… what can I say? I got bored these holidays…_

_A big thank you also goes out to all my readers, my cookies making is getting even better so you get a bag of them each… I need to start finding more recipes, cakes and cookies are getting boring to make now…even if they are different shapes._

_Next update should, fingers crossed and hoping, be up soon. I'm back on my chapter plan now, after altering it and skipping a little so it made sense, so writing the chapters IS getting a little quicker._

_Thank you again to everyone, I love you all!_

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword_


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